A New Thought
by Oh Please
Summary: Tohru wondered about Akito. Her encounters at school and the beach worried her. She had not been able to look away from those piercing eyes. And the awful words that came out went straight to her soul. Did he have power like Hatori's but in reverse?
1. Chapter 1 Posing a Question

"Hey Shigure?" Tohru kept her eyes averted from the tall man as he slumped at the kotatsu reading his morning paper. She had harbored this question for a long time. It had finally started nagging at her after her fateful encounter with Akito at the beach house, and after she witnessed Kyo's true form.

Shigure simply indicated his half attention with a sing-song "Hmmm?" as he flipped to another section of the paper. Tohru kept wiping at the surface of the kotatsu, removing imaginary crumbs from the midmorning Saturday brunch that she had just cleaned up. Kyo had exited to the yard for some martial arts training, while Yuki had headed up to his room to study a bit before a Student Council meeting.

Tohru stuttered a bit in her nervousness. "Um, I've sorta had this question I wanted to ask you… or maybe not you… if you don't know… maybe Hatori, or one of the others...but Hatori is always to busy, taking care of everyone, I hate to bother him….I mean, you could tell me who to ask……" by now Shigure had folded up the paper and draped it over his lap. She had totally captured his full attention by seeming so nervous. Surely his "little flower" knew she could ask him anything. By her reaction, he was thinking it might be something in regards to sex. His favorite topic by far, but one he was loathe to approach with his innocent little "housewife." He smiled calmly at her, hoping it would ease her tension. He truly did love this little girl, though not in the romantic way. She was physically too young for him, but, most important, she was emotionally too young for him. She had as much sexuality as a twelve year old. So, maybe she was finally thinking about his favorite subject and needed some guidance?

"Tohru, dear, you know you can always ask me anything… not that I'll always know the answer, but I'd do anything to help you. So, why don't you just ask me your question? I promise I'll be gentle and nonjudgmental." His grin was not totally innocent, as he loved to see the younger generation squirm. "If it has something to do with Yuki or Kyo, I'm sure I could help you with some lessons in the finer art of men…"

Shigure received the expected squeal of denial, "No, no, it's nothing like _that_!" She swallowed her nervousness and folded her legs under her as she sat down before him on the other side of the table and nervously folded her cleaning rag. Keeping her eyes averted for just a moment longer, she finally looked up into his piercing black eyes. "Well, it's kinda about Yuki and Kyo, but more about all the members of the Zodiac." She paused to arrange her words so this slightly perverted man would not misunderstand her question. "I was wondering if any of the other Sohmas had powers like Hatori, Kyo and Akito. I have seen Kyo's true form, and heard about Hatori's ability to erase memories. And I started thinking. It seems that Akito has the ability to make you all believe any dark and awful thing he sees fit to put in your heads. I felt it a bit at the school and at the beach house. It was almost like being in a nightmare, where my eyes could not pull away from him, and his words went straight into my heart. It seemed like what Kyo and Yuki had described as Hatori's abilities. And it got me wondering about the rest of you."

Shigure sat back with a gasp of air. This was totally out of the blue, and he was so taken back, he had no thought of how to respond. "Well, I don't know. I have never even really thought about it. It has just always been accepted that Hatori had his ability. None of us every really questioned it. Hmmm." He chewed on his lower lip and truly thought about her question. Did any of them have any other powers? He finally asked it back to her, "What makes you think any of the rest of us have powers?"

Tohru leaned over and looked up the stairs to make sure Yuki was not approaching. Then she looked up at the ceiling, deep in thought. "Well, I started thinking about Yuki. He has the shy, quiet personality at home, but when he is at school, for some reason, everyone loves and respects him. It doesn't fit his personality. With as shy as he is, you would think people would not even notice him. I was wondering if he had some type of power that made people notice and respect him. Then, I compared him to Ayame. Now, he had a flamboyant personality and loved to pull practical jokes, but again, people looked up to him as a leader. And the biggest thing was, he could tell such outlandish lies and even the adults listened to him, and _believed_ him."

She cleared her throat as she hoped she had not insulted Shigure by saying such things about his best friend. She smiled kindly at him and said, "Then I thought about you and your ability to convey such amazing things with your words. You are a great story teller. Even though you play around a lot, you also seem to have some wisdom that comes through in what you say."

Shigure had the presence of mind to look humble and blush a bit. No one had ever said anything as endearing to him before. He was usually tossed away as being the family clown and kept around only for comic relief. It had been a roll he had easily fallen into as he followed Ayame's lead in their hijinks and antics.

Tohru stopped at this point and felt doubt creep back into her mind. "But you must think I'm being awfully silly with all of this. I admit, I'm not the smartest girl in school, but it just seemed like there should be something more with this curse. It seemed like all of you had some special ability like Hatori's but that Akito wanted you to think you were all useless, and you believed it. Only Hatori's power was useful to Akito, so the rest were ignored. Surely, there must be a good side to the curse. It can't all be bad. I mean, if it started out as God inviting his beloved children to a banquet, he surely didn't mean for it to result in such misery. It seems like somewhere along the line, it was perverted into what it is today."

Tohru stopped and blushed at the totally stricken look on Shigure's face. Had she said too much? Was she talking about things she had no business talking about? All the members of the Zodiac were loath to talk about the curse as if simply talking about it would make it worse. But really, how much worse could it be? Living life in fear of being close to anyone? Living with the terror of he head of the family taking out his anger and depravity on them? Wondering when their dirty little secret will be discovered?

Tohru bowed, upset that she had overstepped her boundaries, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I know none of you like to talk about the curse, and you are leery of what Akito might do if I find out too much. It was just a question that has been bugging me. I shouldn't have asked. Please forgive me. I'll just go now… I've got… um…. Something to do….. up in my room……" and she got up and ran for the door before Shigure could even gather his wits about him to protest. He could hear her little padded feet dashing down the hall upstairs until she reached her room. Then he heard the bed groan as she tossed herself down on it, probably to cry.

Shigure closed his eyes and thought, 'I'm such an ass.' Then he truly wondered about her idea. Did any of them have any other powers that were being downplayed by Akito? He rose and ambled to his office and pulled out his phone and dialed Ayame. Then, a quick call to Hatori followed it. "Hatori? It's me, Shigure. I think you and Ayame need to meet me and discuss a question that Tohru just asked."

Hatori's voice was strained and distracted on the other end of the line, "Surely, you can answer the questions of a sixteen year old girl." There was a pause, and then he continued in a bit more concerned voice. "Then again, if it was important, I don't know that I'd want you to answer her. What was it about? You didn't tell her about sex, did you? You know how I feel about you corrupting the younger generations with your perversity." His voice was rising a bit in upset.

Shigure hurriedly placated his friend, "No, no, seriously. This was a question I can not answer, and have not even thought about. If it was about sex, I could have handled that. And I'll have you know, I can be just as discreet and gentle on such tender topics of sex in a young, untried girl's life as you can. You would probably scare the poor dear away from ever even considering sex with your cold attitude. You would probably just give the girl a shot and tell her to go to bed and not think about it." Shigure just couldn't help poking at the doctor's bedside manner sometimes.

His antics worked to reassure the good doctor that Shigure had not taken the opportunity to fill the poor girls head with silly nonsense like in his romance novels. Hatori would not admit it to anyone, but he truly cared for the loving, giving young woman. She reminded him so of the warm spirit that Kanna had before their accident with Akito. He couldn't help but feel like his snowy heart was melting when he was around Tohru. She cared so much for his younger cousins and this big pervert. Now that he thought about it, there were only three people in the family that did not love this strange little outsider. Akito, of course, never loved anyone. Koreno, because he was never even allowed to meet her, and Hiro who was jealous of the love that Kisa had for her "big sister." How could a single, orphaned girl have earned the love and respect of ten so totally different Sohmas?

Shigure cleared his throat to get the attention of the currently silent and distant dragon and continued, "Yes, as the older generation of the family, and the ones who are supposedly more intelligent than our younger cousins, I feel that the three of us need to sit down and discuss this. Tohru posed a very interesting question that requires some serious thought about our knowledge of the Zodiac members. I propose we three meet for lunch to consider this topic and see what our superior intellects can come up with."

And with only a small amount of discussion, the three were scheduled to meet at Shigure's house on Monday for lunch, while the younger members of the household were at school. Shigure asked Tohru to prepare a small lunch for them, since they had "family" business to discuss, and she was more than happy to fix a favorite dish for each of them the night before. The poor girl had buried herself in chores and homework to stay away form Shigure for the rest of the weekend. It seemed that she somehow felt she had upset the older man and was working hard to repair any damage she might have done.

After allowing both his best friends into his house, Shigure carried the prepared meals out to the kotatsu where the others reclined. Hatori lit up a cigarette while Ayame flipped his long hair over his shoulder and began braiding it. Hatori lifted his chop sticks and got right down to business, "So what is this all about Shigure? What kind of question can a young girl pose that would stump your perverted mind?"

Ayame giggled behind his hand as he reached for his own chopsticks. His deep voice, so startling coming from such a tall lean man entered the conversation, "How the mighty fall to the wit of a young, princess."

Shigure placed his chopsticks down and savored the bite in his mouth. Looking up at the ceiling he arranged his thoughts. "Ahhh, she is such a wonderful cook. I could die a happy man after one of her meals." The he paused, and a serious look overtook his laughing face. "Our little blossom came to me asking about any powers that the other Zodiac might have that are similar to Hatori's and Kyo's."

Hatori's eyes opened wide, and he stopped chewing a moment to register what Shigure had spoken. Ayame started coughing as a swallow of his tea went down the wrong way. Being the helpful guy that he is, Shigure leaned over and not so gently smacked Ayame on the back a few times until the coughing ceased.

Hatori finished his bite and wondered out loud, "What brought this on?" Shigure shrugged his shoulders and explained, "She said she had though that possibly Akito had similar powers to yours Hari, after she encountered him at the school and the beach. She said it felt like she could not take her eyes off of his, and that all the dark things he said went right into her soul. She seems to think that it's possible the rest of us have hidden powers that were not beneficial to Akito, so he convinced us we were useless with his dark words. She then compared my ability to tell stories and Aaya's ability to lead and Yuki's ability to command respect and admiration with Hari's powers and Akito's supposed powers. It really took me by surprise." He paused again to get another bite as he finished relaying the story, "Then she said the most unusual thing. She said that if the curse started out as God calling his children to a banquet, that he surely must not have meant for it to be a punishment. That there must be a good side to the curse. I must tell you, I was speechless. She thought that the curse must have gotten twisted somewhere down the generations. I didn't know what to tell her, and have been pondering this question all weekend. I truly wanted to know what you think, and if you have ever seen anything that might support her conclusion that the rest of us might have similar untapped powers?"

Ayame sat back and looked thoughtfully at his friends and cleared his throat, "I did once think it odd that my classmates would believe anything I told them, and would follow my suggestions, no matter how odd they were. I just always brushed the idea away attributing it to my natural charm."

Shigure chuckled, "Yes, Tohru mentioned you in comparison to Yuki. How the students would believe any outlandish thing you would tell them. I had thought about the three of us. We grew up under the old head of the family before Akito rose to the position. So, we were spared a great deal of that influence, so it's possible we were able to develop some of our natural … powers, for lack of a better word. The younger cousins have been poisoned by Akito's hateful words for their whole lives, and it's possible that the damage inflicted has prevented anything from appearing."

Hatori looked sadly at the ashtray and wondered, "I wonder if there are any records of past Zodiac members that might indicate anything unusual. It would actually ease my mind if I were not the only one with abilities. I've always felt a bit of a freak among the family. One to be feared. That is not how I wanted to live."

Ayame leaned over and draped an arm around the good doctor and smiled gently, "Yes, but Ha-san, you are the only member of the family responsible enough to wield such power without abusing it. Of all of us, you are the King Arthur upholding virtue above our petty foolishness. You are the caring heart that keeps everyone safe from our dear Akito. You have always been special."

Shigure sat back with a bit of a shocked look on his face. "Is it possible that the three of us have always been unconsciously working to reduce the anguish that Akito causes the others? I have never realized that we seem to buffer the affects of his cruelty. And while we act as a buffer, our dear Tohru has been healing the damage caused with her love and caring. She has even given an old pervert like me hope that there might be someone out there that could love me for who I am, curse or not."

Hatori finished his delicious meal and concluded, "Well, I can keep an eye on the members of the Zodiac for any unusual abilities, and I'll check back through my files. I need to get back to work, though, so please, tell Tohru how wonderful lunch was. Oh, and tell her that her observations were quite astute."

Shigure rose with the two other men, "Truly. She seems to think that her ideas are crazy, or insulting, as she's been avoiding me all weekend."

Ayame piped in with a happy lilt, "Well, if you are feeling neglected, I could stay and comfort you my dear Shigure." Shigure's eyes lit up in his playful mode and he clasped his hand before him in mock joy. "Oh, would you dear Aya? Your comfort is all I need."

The men did their usual thumbs up pose, and Hatori shook his head in mock disgust. "You two really need to stop that. How old are you now? Twelve? And here I thought we were the wiser and older members of the Zodiac. I wonder sometimes….."

Shigure saw the two to the door and they parted amiably with the intention to research and watch the others. Who knew, this might be something to help them eradicate the curse. Even though the older members had lived under the curse longer, it did not mean they had accepted it. Shigure had seen how the hopes of the family had been placed on the slim shoulders of Tohru and he didn't want her to collapse under the weight. They would do whatever needed to be done to prevent that. If all twelve members had some powers, then possibly, they could be used in her defense and protection. He leaned back against the doorframe as he watched his two friends drive away. It was quite something to think about.


	2. Chapter 2

Tohru had been feeling dizzy and weak all day. Darn, how had she developed another fever? Her head hurt to the point where she could barely hear the teachers to take notes. Why now? There wasn't any big tests she was studying for.

After the third fever that Hatori graciously treated her for, he had suggested that possibly stress was what brought on these fevers. She became stressed. Her immune system became weaker. She was susceptible to bugs and other viruses.

So, what was causing this extra stress? Things were still a bit uncomfortable at home. She still felt like she needed to apologize to Shigure for mentioning things that were not her business. But still, this family was a part of her business. They had taken her in, like a stray puppy. They had given her a home and people to love. They were her family too. What ever hurt them, hurt her. And, no one hurt those she loved!

The hunt for a cure to the curse had taken a dark turn. She and Rin had secretly scoured every document in Shigure's vast library and filing cabinets. Tohru had even been reading his past novels to determine if there were some subconscious hints in the plots. Of course, it had been embarrassing to read about the main characters' sexual exploits, but she had gotten good at skimming that part. I mean, after a while, one paragraph describing heaving bosoms was the same as another paragraph describing that particular part of the body. It had taken a few days to be able to look Shigure in the face without blushing like a fool. How could such a seemingly nice man be so obsessed with lust and physical affection? Of course, it made sense in a way. He could not have these things in real life, so he created them in his fantasy life, where he could pretend to be the leading man who suffers through hardships, but in the end, gets the girl.

Their next avenue of exploration was Hatori's files. That would be harder to arrange. First off, it was hard to find a time when he left his office. Second, it was dangerous for both girls to be that close to Akito. Not only did he hate them both, but he had been willing to use physical violence in the past to express those feelings. Poor Rin had even ended up hospitalized. She had finally told bits and pieces of the story to Tohru, who, as always, was the supportive and listening friend that they all loved.

Tohru packed up her notebooks and textbooks and headed to her locker, dragging her feet. It was amazing the lengths that people will go to protect those they loved. Rin had endured Akito's attack, then removed herself from Hatsuharu's life to protect him. Hatori had endured Akito's attack and did not hold a grudge against the head of the family, even after being forced to erase the memories of the love of his life. Kisa had even been hurt once Akito learned of Hiro's love for the little tiger. Would Akito not let any of the Zodiac love another? Was it love itself that Akito hated so much? Didn't Akito ever love someone? Maybe that was the problem. Maybe in the past, Akito had loved and been forced to endure pain and had that love taken away? Could his actions be a reenactment of something that had happened to him?

As she stuffed the books she would not need to take home in her locker, she closed her eyes and rested her burning forehead against the cool metal of her locker door. And what about her? What was she willing to do for love? Her life was so confusing. She loved all the members of the Zodiac that she had met, with the possible exception of Kureno, only because she had only been in his presence for less than a day. She had pushed Akito to get him away from Yuki. Then later, she had come between Akito and Momiji in an effort to defend her sweet little bunny friend. Both times, she had been terrified, and shocked at her own actions. Akito was so powerful and everyone in the family feared him. How was it she had defied him? Was it the power of loving these twelve people that had enabled her to do that? Or was it just the fact that her fearless Mother had raised her to be like that? Defending the downtrodden and helpless. For, as strong as Yuki and Kyo were in physical fighting, they were completely helpless when faced with Akito.

She pushed off from the soothing coolness of her locker as she heard her friends approach down the hall. Yuki and Kyo were arguing over something trivial, as usual. She knew she needed to look normal and make it home before she worried them. It seemed she had been spending a lot of time protecting the feelings of others lately. She had never wanted to be a burden, and seriously did not want anyone calling poor, overworked Hatori to come and examine her. It was the same thing as always. Fever, checkup, shot. She could last a few more days and then maybe stop in a clinic on Saturday on her way home from her other part time job.

Both boys flanked her as she turned to leave the building. It would be a long walk home, but she didn't mind their bickering. It made them feel safer to not have to deal with the feelings they had. She remembered how frightening it was to confront real problems. It was much easier to pretend to be angry or to displace hurt onto another. She watched the exchange and couldn't help remember how each boy secretly wanted to be like the other. How they unknowingly respected each other, and tried to emulate the other's personality.

Her eyes grew blurry as she slowed and the boys walked just a little past her and moved closer together as they fussed. Cat and Mouse. She could almost see Kyo's tail puffed up in anger. But, this wasn't a serious fight. This was more like…. Sparring? Friendly banter? Sibling rivalry?

Her legs wobbled and she tried to call out to her friends. "Um, guys?" They continued yelling. "Kyo?" no response. "Yuki?" just more shouting. Finally, she decided it was better to sit down before she fell. Neither was close enough to catch her if her legs gave out, so she plopped herself down on the curb, and dropped her satchel. The pain in her head was so great, that she could no longer even hold her head up. She rested her weary forehead on her knees and wrapped her arms around her legs that were folded up to her chest. The sounds of the city morphed into a background of white noise in her roaring ears.

She thought she heard her Mother's soothing voice talking about her having a fever again because she was pushing herself. Tohru explained, "But I have to Mom. There are so many people depending on me. I have to find the answer. I can't just leave my friends suffering from this curse." In her mind, she heard her Mother laugh gently and admonish her to only do what she could do, and just be herself. Then she was remembering her Mother telling her the story about the Zodiac and the banquet as she was a small child laying in her futon. But it wasn't the whole story, it was only the line about "the mischievous rat lied to his neighbor the cat and told him the banquet would be the day after tomorrow." That line played over and over in her head. But along with it were images of Yuki admitting that he wanted out of the Sohma family, and images of Kyo screaming that he wanted a place within the family.

The Cat and Rat were neighbors. Why would the Rat play such a mean trick on his neighbor, someone that he would see almost daily for the rest of his life? Did the Rat know what was coming? How the banquet would be turned into a constricting bond that none of the animals could escape from? How the bond would ruin their lives? And why would Akito call Yuki a "vengeful" rat? What did the rat want vengeance for?

Her thoughts swirled painfully in her mind, seeming to cause pain every time they crashed into the confines of her consciousness. What if the rat was trying to protect his friend the cat from suffering the same fate as the rest of them? What if the original rat had respected the original cat like Yuki and Kyo do? Could this part of the legend have gotten twisted too?

She was brought out of her own delirious musing when she heard both Yuki and Kyo calling her name with concern in their voices. When she raised her head from her knees, she saw the cloudy faces of both boys, kneeling before her. She didn't know exactly why she did it, but she reached out and placed a hand on each boy's face and smiled. From somewhere in her fuzzy mind she tried to explain her new insight. "The Rat didn't trick the Cat. They were friends and neighbors. The Rat respected the Cat and wanted to save him from the fate of the others. The Cat trusted the Rat and followed his instructions without doubt or worry. They were neighbors. Um…." She trailed off as she registered the strange looks on both the faces swimming in her vision.

Kyo looked like he was looking at a lunatic, but there was a blush on his cheeks. Probably from the hand she still had resting on his face. He placed a hand on her forehead and commented, "Aww, you've got a fever again. Why didn't you tell us? That explains the crap you're spouting." Still, he couldn't prevent himself from tilting his face into her touch and almost closing his eyes with a purr.

Yuki reached out to her also, and stroked her bangs back away from her eyes. "Miss Honda, do you think you can walk back to the house? We could always call for Hatori. He could pick us up." Yuki dug through his backpack for his cell phone, and dialed up the good doctor despite Tohru's arguments that Hatori was far to busy to bother with a nobody like her.

Kyo just smiled one of his quiet smiles and admitted to the girl. "Ya know. Hatori likes you too. Not to mention, your thank you meals are probably the only real food he ever gets. And it's good for him to get away from the damn Akito!" the barely concealed hatred for the head of the family slipping out for a moment.

Tohru simply couldn't argue with them since she could barely hear the words they were using over the roar in her ears. She felt hot and cold at the same time, and none of her muscles wanted to work properly. Yuki hung up his phone as her head went crashing back down on her knees and her arms dropped limply by her sides. "Hatori said he would be right here. And not to worry, Miss Honda, he considers you a member of the family. So it's not bother."

She smiled against her knees and felt the soothing hands of the boys as they reassured themselves of her condition by gently touching her hair or hands. The word she spoke was mumbled but both boys heard her, "Family." She drifted away into darkness thinking that she had to find a cure to the curse to protect her new family from any more hurt. She would defend them when they were weak, and cheer them when they were strong. That's what families did for each other.

AN-This may seem out of place with the previous chapter, but it's another new thought about the relationships in the story. It fits in with the strange and volatile relationship that Yuki and Kyo have. It is always easier to pretend to be angry than to actually admit to feeling sad and hurt or envious.


	3. Chapter 3

Shigure, Yuki and Kyo hovered at the end of Tohru's pink bed as Hatori examined his patient. She alternated between shivering and moaning as he tried to find any causes for this illness. He half turned to ask the boys of the house, "Have you noticed her acting unusual lately? Complaining of pain or anything?" Kyo snorted, "You know as well as we do that Tohru never complains about anything. She just smiles and goes on like it doesn't bother her, even when it does."

The frown on Hatori's face deepened as he checked her temperature. "She has a dangerously high temperature. We may need to admit her to the hospital." Yuki straightened up and pivoted on his heel, "I'll get some ice. That has always helped before." Kyo fidgeted and wished Hatori would tell him something he could do to help make Tohru feel better. Remembering something that Kazuma used to help him feel better, he turned to his room stating, "I've got some liniment that Kazuma used when I was feeling bad."

This left an anxious Shigure moving closer to his best friend's elbow. There was no playfulness in his voice as he asked, "She's really that sick? Isn't there anything you can do to help?" Hatori pulled a vial out of his black bag and prepared to give her a shot of antibiotics and vitamins. His deep voice hummed as he worked, "I think this might help a bit, but if her fever doesn't go down within the hour we will be forced to hospitalize her. I don't want her here if she starts convulsing from the high temperature."

After administering the shot, Hatori sat gently on the side of her bed and brushed the sweaty bangs away from the feverish girl's forehead. Her eyes fluttered open and she turned a watery gaze to the two men. She managed to whisper, "I'm sorry they called you. I told them not to. I was going to take care of it myself…..Saturday…. clinic…" her voice faded off to nothing as she barely registered that they were there.

Kyo and Yuki returned in time to see her laying there with her eyes partly open and the boys offered their remedies. Shigure affected his happy, there's-nothing-wrong-here pose and ushered the boys out of the room stating Hatori needed to finish his examination. In the quiet that followed, Hatori explained that he was going to listen to her heart and lungs, then push on her stomach. It was a routine they had established from the many times he had been called to treat this unique girl among the boys of Shigure's house. Truthfully, only Akito and Rin got sick as often as Tohru. But, then a small smile broke out on Hatori's face as he thought to himself, but she is a much better patient and a joy to treat.

As he placed the stethoscope back in his bag, he noticed that Shigure had returned to the room. So far, he could find nothing to indicate the source of her fever. This was not the usual over-worked fever that he had seen her develop before. This seemed more serious. Shigure's concerned voice questioned from behind him, "So, have you found anything yet?" It wasn't often that the dog let his concern show, but it was obvious that he did feel something for the girl other than as just someone he was using to his own ends.

Hatori shrugged and stated, "Well, her lungs are clear and her heart is beating normally, although a bit sluggishly. I've ruled out an upper respiratory infection. My next thought was possibly appendicitis." After saying that, the doctor moved to place his hands on her abdomen and began gently pushing down in several places. He used the pattern he had been taught in medical school instead of going straight for the possible problem. He didn't want to overlook any other possible source of her problems.

She did not flinch when he depressed the area of her pelvis which housed the appendix. But he did get a pained reaction when he compressed the area around her spleen. His frown deepened. Shifting to a better position on the bed, he moved his hands up to her neck and felt for and found swollen lymph nodes. With more of a purpose now, he withdrew a tongue depressor and light from his bag and looked into her throat. He turned to address Shigure, "Has she been complaining about a sore throat?"

Shigure tapped his hand on his chin as he was thinking. "No, she didn't say anything. But, come to think of it, she was been drinking a lot of herbal tea with honey and lemon. I didn't think about it, but that is what she made me when I had a cold and sore throat."

Hatori reached into his bag again and pulled out a syringe and tube. He leaned over Tohru to get her attention. "Tohru, I need to take some blood for tests to see exactly what is wrong. I'll try to be gentle, okay?" Her sweaty face turned to him and she smiled a ghostly imitation of her usual sunshine smile. "Okay. Don't worry. I'm tough."

As Hatori was drawing blood, Shigure shuddered and tried to focus on her face and say something to distract her. "You know, Tohru, if you wanted a break from housework, you could have just asked. You have worked so hard lately that there is nothing left to clean." But, he did not get the reaction he wanted. Instead of laughing at his silliness, tears formed in her beautiful eyes. She stuttered, "No, no.. I don't want a break… I love it here… I want to do my part….you have been so kind to let me stay…and I just cause problems and say things I shouldn't." She turned her face away from the men, "I didn't mean to make you mad with my questions."

Shigure scoffed, "Silly Tohru, no one is mad. You asked a very good question that I didn't have an answer to. That's all. I'm not mad." Hatori added his thoughts, "Truthfully, Tohru, I enjoy hearing your ideas. You have a refreshing way of looking at the world and its problems. No one had ever thought to look at the other members of the Zodiac for powers like mine. I relish the thought of not being unique in this sense. Though I'm a bit disturbed to think that Akito could have the type of powers that you've noticed and been using them on us while we were unaware. But, sometimes the people involved are too close to a problem to see the true answer. After your question, it caused me to stop and think about this like an outsider. I think you might be correct."

Shigure's attention shifted a bit from playful teasing to serious contemplation. He explained to the confused girl, "After your comment, I called Ayame and Hatori to pool our collective intellect to consider what you had said. He was going to check the back files on the other members of the Zodiac for evidence of such powers."

Hatori placed a bandage on the arm where he drew blood and placed the vials gently in his bag. Turning, he smiled back to the sick girl and commented, "Yes, and there have been a few strange incidents that were notated in the files. Some of the Zodiac from past generations had the power to heal, to read minds, to influence the feelings of others, and the power of superhuman strength. One ancestor might have been able to spit acid but the notes were smudged and unclear. Mostly the records reflected numerous personality disorders similar to Hatsuharu's. I found a journal that an old doctor kept, and he surmised that there were two separate personalities in some of the Zodiac members. He guessed that one was the Zodiac animal, and the other the natural spirit of the host body."

Tohru's eyes grew even larger than they were normally. She squeaked, "You mean, I was right? That's amazing." Then her enthusiasm overtook her discomfort and she clapped her hands eagerly, "Oh, then we need to figure out what everyone's powers are, somehow! Oh, how exciting! I bet Kagura's is the superhuman strength!" and a giggle escaped her sore throat.

Shigure admonished, "Now, now, Tohru. You aren't doing anything until you are feeling better. I won't have you jumping around making yourself worse." She looked property contrite as she calmed down and glanced back at the handsome doctor who was looking at her with a quiet smile.

Hatori commented as he stood from her bedside, "I think your fever may be going down. I'll check again in a few minutes. Then I'll get these tests run on your blood. You may have Mononucleosis but I won't know for sure until I receive the test results."

Shigure scrunched up his nose and held his hand before his mouth in mock shock. "Tohru! My little sweet flower has the kissing disease! Who have you been kissing? Oh the horror." Her face went up in flames of embarrassment as she started stuttering and trying to proclaim her innocence. Hatori smirked but then spoke crossly to his friend, "Shigure, you know as well as anyone, that mono can be transmitted in ways other than kissing. And you should be ashamed of yourself for embarrassing a sick girl. Her face is already red enough from the fever." He stopped and looked at the ceiling, "Of course, if she does have mono, I'll have to administer shots to all of you in this house. Hmm, now where did I put that extra large needle."

It took a minute for the scene and the look of horror on Shigure's face to register in her sluggish brain, but when it did, she couldn't help but giggle at Hatori's way of handling the taunting from the Shigure. Sometimes she wondered if all of this was a strange act and these men were some unique kabuki actors. Or, maybe she was trapped in a manga and would wake up some day to find she was asleep in her bed with a book on her chest and all this had been a dream.

Sleep drifted over her aching body and she decided this once not to fight against it. It was not time to start dinner, and like Shigure had commented, she was so far ahead in housework that she'd have to dirty something just to have something to do. Still, it amazed her how much dirt and clutter three unmarried males could produce.

Some day, she was sure she could 'housebreak' them to where they cleaned up after themselves. Kyo was the best, since he had been in charge of feeding and cleaning while living with Kazuma. Shigure was the worst with his tendencies to drop books wherever he left them, and leaving food and plates in his office. Hadn't someone once told her that cats were much easier to keep as pets than dogs because cats took care of themselves? Dogs were always requiring attention and care. Yes, that surely described the differences between Shigure and Kyo.

Downstairs, four males gathered about the kotatsu to discuss Tohru's health. Hatori sipped at a cup of tea that Kyo had provided and explained, "I believe Tohru may have mononucleosis but I won't know conclusively until the tests have been completed. As such, she must absolutely not do anything physical or strenuous. With mono, the spleen can become inflamed and easily damaged by exertion. You must make sure she rests, and watch her for signs she is worsening. Call me immediately, no matter what time of day it is if she develops a fever above 102 degrees or difficulty breathing, abdominal pain, severe headache, yellow discoloration of the eyes or skin or weakness in the arms and legs. You should call an ambulance immediately if she develops sharp, sudden or severe abdominal pain, or significant difficulty breathing or swallowing or a stiff neck or severe weakness. This could be a very serious illness and we need to be aware of that, and not let Tohru's usual ability to hide symptoms mask her distress. It may be several weeks before she is back to normal, and it is up to us to make sure she recovers. That means," he pointed his finger at Shigure, "no teasing her, or asking her to clean or cook for you." Then he turned accusing eyes to Kyo and Yuki, "and you two will have to learn to stop fighting. You will not be upsetting her while she is so ill. If you need to compete, join a sport!"

Hatori finished his tea and carried the cup into the kitchen. Then, he headed back to his patient for one more check on her temperature before he decided if she should stay here or be admitted to a hospital. He shook his head in wonder. No telling how long Tohru had been feeling poorly but didn't let anyone know because she didn't want to be burden. Well, she would have to get over that way of thinking. Family helped family; even if they were a burden. Ritsu and Kyo being a perfect example of that. And hadn't he and all his cousins unburdened themselves to her? That was part of her charm and appeal. She was a wonderful listener and had a natural insight into the human soul that she used to provide healing to their emotional wounds.

As he entered the room of his sick little patient, he wondered how life would have been different if the head of the Sohma family had been someone like Tohru Honda. Akito's life had been difficult and hard, but Tohru's hardships eclipsed Akito's tenfold. The main difference had to have been the unconditional love that Tohru had received from her mother. He glanced at the picture of the smiling woman who went everywhere with Tohru and wished he could have met her. Shigure had told him of all the stories Tohru had relayed to him about her past. As he gently shook the girl to rouse her from sleep to check her temperature, he smiled kindly and thought, 'what a wonderful girl to have fallen into our undeserving family.'


	4. Chapter 4 How do you do that?

Chapter 4 How do you do that?

Tohru wasn't sure how long she had slept. Her clock said 6:00 but she didn't know if that was morning or night. Had she only slept a few hours, or a whole night? She listened for clues in the house around her, but there were few sounds.

Her confused mind tried to think what she would hear if it were morning. The boys would be wandering around getting ready for school. Would one be in the shower? Shigure wasn't any help, because he never made a sound before 10AM. Either way, she decided, she needed to fix a meal, though she wasn't sure if it was breakfast or dinner.

Her body felt ten times heavier than usual as she tossed the covers back and swung her legs over the side of her bed. It barely registered in her groggy mind that she was so very cold and sore. All she thought of was her house duties. Pulling a clean uniform out of her drawer, Tohru slowly dressed for school, and pulled her robe on over it. Surely, it must be a freak weather spell for it to be this cold in the spring.

With her warmest socks peeking out from the edge of her robe, Tohru moved to her door and slid the shoji aside. Again, there were no clues to the time of day out in the hallway, so she continued to the kitchen.

In the kitchen, she found the remnants of the boys attempt to make tea and snacks. Dishes were stacked in the sink, and the kettle was still boiling on the stove. She turned off the eye and shook the kettle to find that most of the water had boiled away, and it was only a few minutes from burning the kettle. She had done that when she was little, and it really smelled awful.

There were no males present to ask what meal they wanted, so Tohru started pulling out ingredients for a breakfast that could be enjoyed in the evening. She felt awful but couldn't remember why. Each step took enormous effort, and her arms felt like lead. Her hands shook as she tried to mix the ingredients in a bowl. The room started to spin, and she grabbed for the edge of the counter to catch herself. Unfortunately, her hand hit the bowl and it tumbled off the surface to crash into a million pieces on the floor.

Tears streamed down her face as she looked at the mess she had made. And that was her favorite mixing bowl. Behind her, scrambling footsteps could be heard approaching the kitchen from all over the house. Kyo and Yuki reached the kitchen entrance at the same moment and yelled out in distress. "Tohru!" "Miss Honda!" Then Shigure and Hatori ran up behind the younger boys. That answered one question. It must be dinner time if Shigure is awake.

Tohru turned bleary and unfocused eyes towards the doorway to begin her sorrowful apology for being so clumsy and for being so late in fixing dinner. But before she could open her mouth, Hatori and Kyo were beside her, each catching an arm to escort her out of the kitchen. Hatori was lightly scolding her, "Tohru, you are not supposed to get up out of bed. You will really hurt yourself if you do not follow my orders. If this happens again, we will have to admit you to the hospital where you can be monitored."

Kyo added his opinion, "Stupid girl! How are you supposed to get better if you don't let us take care of you? I can cook meals until you are well."

Tohru was thoroughly confused now. Her fevered mind did not remember the prior events of falling sick and being treated by Hatori. She just looked around like a lost child and hoped someone would explain. Shigure stepped up to that role, "Tohru-dear. Do you not remember falling ill and Hatori driving you home?" Her stringy hair whirled about as she shook her head no.

Yuki reached out and carefully swiped her sweaty bangs away from her face as he explained, "You gave us quite a scare collapsing on the way home from school. You should have told someone you were so sick." Then Hatori and Kyo continued walking her back upstairs to her room, each carefully holding one of her arms.

After tucking the sick girl back into bed, Hatori checked her temperature again and found that it had risen. His brow furrowed with a thoughtful frown. He was just on the edge of deciding to send her to the hospital. It was a good thing that he had decided to stay and talk to Shigure about some family matters. The other boys had ordered take out, and he had added his request to the order which was due to arrive in a few minutes.

Again, Shigure, Kyo and Yuki hovered around the foot of her bed and watched the examination. Yuki spoke up, "Do you think one of us needs to stay in here to keep an eye on Miss Honda?" Kyo snorted, "Lot of good that will do. You know she's as stubborn as a mule when she puts her mind to something. She would probably hurt herself just by trying to get up."

Shigure tapped his finger on his chin and thought of a solution, "Perhaps we can build her a temporary bed in the living room so she doesn't feel so isolated and we can keep an eye on her? We could put the blanket back on the kotatsu and she could snuggle up to the heater when she gets too cold."

Hatori looked at his usually immature cousin and smiled. "That's actually a wonderful idea, Shigure." And with that bit of encouragement, the boys set out to do just that.

The blanket and heater were placed back under the kotatsu. A huge pallet of extra blankets had been positioned on the side of the table so Tohru could simply turn her head and watch the television if she wanted. Shigure even donated his back rest for when the girl was feeling good enough to sit up. In the midst of all the commotion, dinner arrived.

Since they were about to eat, and there were many hours of the evening still left, Hatori gingerly picked the girl up, careful to keep her from touching his torso, and carried her down to her new makeshift bed. She was barely awake due to the dose of medicine Hatori gave her, but she appreciated being included in dinner.

Kyo helped prop her up on some pillows. Then he placed a bit of food on her bowl and helped her hold it while she nibbled. None of them expected her to eat much, since she was so sick, but it did make them fell good to see her try to eat.

After a few bites, she couldn't hold her head up any longer, and thanked them all sincerely. Kyo moved away to get his own food and watched Tohru from the corner of his eye as she slid down the pile of pillows until she was laying half under the kotatsu in the soothing heat. Her heavy eyes drifted shut as she listened to the lively conversation around the table. Her bleary mind stopped listening to words, and just heard the sounds like music. The music of family.

A routine started to emerge in the next few hours and days. After dinner was finished, Kyo and Yuki brought their homework to the living room and worked quietly. Hatori and Shigure discussed all the things adults discuss after a filling dinner. Then, later, when it was time to wind up the evening, Hatori carried Tohru back up to her room and checked her fever again. Kyo and Yuki tossed a coin to decide who would sleep on the floor in Tohru's room to keep an eye on her. Mostly, it was to keep an eye out for her wandering in her fevered state and making herself worse. No one put it past the girl to suddenly get up in the middle of the night and think that she had to do laundry, or make Bento boxes for everyone's lunches. Kyo took the first night and fell into a light sleep in the middle of her floor. The next night, it would be Yuki's turn, and they would alternate until she was better. They never even thought about giving Shigure a turn in sleeping in her bedroom. They could barely stomach the fact that she would be home alone, all day, with that perverted dog!

Hatori made a promise that he would come by every day at lunch and dinner to check up on her to ease the younger boys' worries. Truthfully, Hatori himself was a bit concerned about a delirious Tohru alone in a house with Shigure. Secretly, Hatori had enlisted Ayame's help in making sure the girl was not alone with Shigure for very long.

In the mornings, Kyo would start breakfast while Shigure carried Tohru downstairs to her makeshift bed in the living room. Yuki would gather all the things she needed to work on during the day if she felt up to it. He was determined to help her keep up in school so she didn't have to repeat a grade. They all knew how important graduating was to their princess. After Yuki got her situated, Kyo would help her eat what she could and set her up with snacks and drinks on the table within easy reach.

Shigure never complained about getting up 4 hours earlier than his usual time, and would actually be pleasant at breakfast. When the boys nervously headed off to school, Shigure would stand in the doorway holding the door so Tohru could wave to the boys as they headed down the driveway. Then, they settled down for the daytime routine. Shigure had started doing some of his work in the living room, and even carried his laptop out there to stay close to Tohru.

Tohru, for her part, struggled to stay awake during breakfast and seeing the guys off. After that, she would sleep a few hours half curled up under the soothingly warm table. The arrival of Hatori for her lunch time check up was what usually woke her up enough to stay awake for a few hours. He always brought some healthy lunch with him and explained that he was sneaking out of the main house. Even Akito didn't begrudge him a chance to go out to lunch. Tohru laughed at the idea of straight, serious Hatori being a sneak.

After eating and a check up, which Shigure thankfully excused himself from the room for, Tohru would try to sit up and work on homework. It was frustrating, but she knew that Yuki was really trying to help her, so she felt she owed him to at least attempt to work the problems before he returned. Every few days, Ayame would show up at lunchtime and stay after Hatori left to go over the homework with her. Usually, they didn't get much work done, and instead Tohru was regaled with stories of the three cousin's dashing adventures.

After school was a constant parade of Sohmas and friends. Even Rin came by and brought some Jell-O™. Although Tohru loved visiting with her friends, she felt awful that she couldn't be the good hostess that she so wanted to be. Instead, her friends did the housework that she couldn't and made snacks for everyone. When dinner time would arrive again, Hatori would return, sneaking away from Akito. Some of the visitors would leave to return to their own homes for dinner, and some, like Haru and Momiji would stay for take out. Then homework would come out after dinner. At one point, Haru, Momiji, Kyo, Yuki and Tohru were all working at the kotatsu on their own homework. Tohru looked up and looked around, and recognized that this must be what it's like to be a child with lots of siblings.

Of course, fights still broke out. Kagura would come over and tear off after a fleeing Kyo. Haru would harass Yuki when he was not in Student Council meetings. Ayame would embarrass Yuki and Kyo. Hiro would say unpleasant things to Tohru. Yuki and Kyo would thump Shigure when he was getting particularly perverted around Tohru. And then, who could forget the obligatory Yuki and Kyo battles. Luckily for Tohru, and the safety of the house, the boys had enough presence of mind to take their fights outside.

In the midst of all this, Tohru would sit or lay and watch from her nest in the living room. She had begun to think of her palette of blankets as a nest when she realized that everything she needed for the day was piled around her. The only time she had to move was to use the bathroom.

Tohru watched all the interactions and tried to figure out if any of her friends had any powers like Hatori's. She was beginning to think that Rin, Ritsu and Kisa had been too severely abused by Akito telling them they were worthless to have explored any such powers. Hiro seemed to be very protective. Could that be a power? Still, he was very young, maybe something would develop later. Hatsuharu was very wise when he was White Haru, and very persuasive when he was Black Haru.

A thought started bugging the back of Tohru's mind one night as she had dinner with almost all the members of the Zodiac. "I wonder what age they start to show special abilities?" She would have to ask Hatori when he knew he was different, and when Akito changed so drastically.

Thinking of age, Tohru made a startling realization. Most of the Zodiac members were in 3 age categories. There were five of them about Shigure's age: Hatori, Shigure and Ayame were the same age at 27, then there was Kureno, who seemed about that age, and Ritsu, who seemed just a bit younger.

Then there was the group around her age. Yuki and Kyo were 16, Kagura was 18, Hatsuharu and Momiji were 15, and Rin seemed the same age as Haru.

Then there was Hiro and Kisa who were the odd couple at age 12.

Tohru sat there and wondered how it was that all the Zodiac members were about the same age. One would think, that with the different ages that people died, that there would be a wide range of ages. Some old people, some young, some babies. But everyone was roughly grouped together. Even Akito seemed to be somewhere between Shigure's age and Yuki's age. So, did that mean that the older group grew up under the old head of the household? How did that work? Was the head of the household born cursed like the Zodiac members? Did one have to die before the position was passed on?

Did the previous generation of Zodiac members all die off at the same time? Was a cursed replacement born immediately after the death of the old one, or was there some time difference? Surely, there couldn't be a child born just at the exact moment that the old member died. So, there must have been a delay. That would explain why all the families were relieved that all the Zodiac members had already been born. No one had to worry.

A worry started to build in Tohru's mind. If there was an event in the past that killed off all the members in a group, would it happen again? She knew that Yuki, Akito and Rin were sickly, but was there something else jeopardizing the lives of the whole group?

Tohru held her tongue about her new pressing questions because everyone was having so much fun in Shigure's living room. After dinner and homework was completed, and dishes washed (by someone else), the non resident family members headed to their homes. Hatori, as was his custom, carried Tohru upstairs to her bed to examine her once more before leaving. He noted that her face was a bit flushed, and confirmed that her fever had risen a bit. He frowned and went through his usual routine. Her abdomen was a bit tender, but nothing to be overly worried about. A bit of adjustment in her medication, and he was sure she would rest easily overnight, and feel better in the morning.

She looked up into his wise eyes and finally asked her questions. "Hatori, why are all the Zodiac members about the same age? Is there something that happened to the last generation? I mean, there obviously must be a bit of a delay between the death of the old member and the birth of its replacement. But, it just seems odd that all of you fall roughly into two age brackets."

Hatori placed his stethoscope back in his travel bag and sat thoughtfully on her bed. He looked blankly at her wall and thought, "Hmmm, I never thought about that, but you are right. I haven't heard anything about what might have happened to the last generation to have grouped us together like this. I know that in the past, there have been generations where a Zodiac sign was completely not represented. It's a rare occurrence for all 12 to be together at the same time. It's supposed to be a good omen. I'll have to go back through my records and see if I can find anything about that too." He smile down at the sick girl and commented, "You really are a wonder about finding things that we have never noticed."

"Oh, and there was one other thing that I was wondering about. I know Zodiac can't be hugged by the opposite sex, but how then did Kazuma's grandfather have kids? He said that his grandfather had been possessed by the spirit of the cat before Kyo. So, obviously, he had a child who was Kazuma's father. But, I thought the Zodiac members were forbidden to love. And how do you have kids if you can't touch?"

At this question, Hatori's face turned a lovely shade of red. He started stuttering, "Um, Tohru, you don't have to hug to…. Um….. Well, see….No, it wasn't forbidden for Zodiac to have families until Akito rose to head of the household. And, just like you don't have to hug to kiss, you don't have to hug… to… um… do… THAT." He looked at her innocent, still confused face and decided enough was enough. "Actually, this is not the appropriate time to have this conversation. Maybe I can find you a good book that would better explain it."

Hatori stood and headed for the door where Kyo was waiting with his futon to camp out in her room. In his best doctor voice, he announced, "Call me if you start feeling worse, and no physical exertion." Tohru giggled and saluted, "Ay ay sir! Oh, and thank you for sending Ayame over to keep me company. I'm sure Yuki and Kyo appreciate that I'm not here alone with Shigure." Kyo snorted at hearing this and mumbled "old perverted dog" under his breath so only Hatori could hear it as he exited her room to allow the two to get settled for sleep.

Downstairs, Hatori found Shigure and Ayame still huddled around the kotatsu discussing family events. Hatori plopped himself down hard between the two and nervously loosened his tie. He stole Shigure's cigarette and huffed, "You will not BELIEVE what Tohru just asked me!"

Upstairs, everything was quiet as Kyo settled down to guard the sick girl during the night when raucous laughter exploded from the living room area. He was about to march down there and demand they keep it down but the noise died off. About twenty minutes later, he heard Hatori's car doors open and close twice, signaling the departure of the older cousins. As his thoughts drifted off into sleep, Kyo wondered absently, "I wonder what was so funny? Probably something perverted, knowing Shigure."

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Please review, it makes me smile


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

One night Yuki brought home something new to distract the ever increasingly agitated invalid. Homework had been finished, and there were many hours left before bed. Yuki approached the kotatsu with a plastic bag clutched to his chest.

Yuki understood that as she felt a little better, Tohru desperately wanted to resume her role as caretaker of the household and family. It was her way of expressing her love for them. But Hatori was still adamant about her continued rest since her spleen was still enlarged and any lifting or exertion could cause damage to her spleen. As much as Tohru tried to maintain her sunny, accepting attitude, the lack of activity was depressing her.

Yuki asked quietly, "Miss Honda, would you like to learn a new game? Someone in the student council suggested a game that was rather complicated and I thought we could learn it together. It sounds rather fun." He sat down beside her and pulled a chess set out of the bag. He continued after noticing the shining interest in her eyes. "It has kings and queens, knights and bishops, and pawns. It's a game of strategy and conquest. Would you like to help me learn this?" He handed her the box, and then pulled out a small, novel-sized book and thumbed to the table of contents. "I even bought an instruction book. I thought, maybe, during the day, when you're work is finished, or you need a break, you might read this and help me learn the finer points of the game. One of the students even suggested creating a Chess Club. Maybe we could become good enough to join? What do you think?"

Tohru felt a thrill of joy bubble up from the bottom of her stomach and turned her eyes away from the box to stare in wonder at Yuki. "Oh, Yuki! I would love to learn this game with you. It sounds like so much fun. Maybe, if we get good enough, we could teach some of the others too." She returned her eyes to the illustrations on the back of the box showing a few basic moves of each piece. "I've heard of this game. I always wanted to see what it was about but we never had the time." She laughed gently, "But, it seems I've got plenty of time right now. Don't I." Yuki chuckled along with her and started clearing off the table.

Soon, Tohru was gently removing the intricately carved chess pieces from their bubble wrap in the package while Yuki was reading over the basics of the game. Tohru marveled over the little images of the king and queen. He looked lordly and regal with a kind face and shaggy beard. She looked elegant and beautiful with Grecian features and long braided hair. For a moment she forgot that this was a game, and looked on these pieces as dolls from her childhood. Each had appropriate crowns adorning their heads and long flowing gowns. She could have imagined an entire play using just these two characters.

Yuki cleared his throat to get her attention and started explaining the moves that the king and queen could perform. Then he was helping to remove the little pawns, leaving the more interesting pieces for her to discover. Since the whole point was to distract her and keep her amused for a few hours, he let her move at her own pace. He was content just to see the whimsical smile that graced her face.

Each piece unwrapped was like a little treasure. How had they put so much detail into game pieces? The little bishops had tall, pointy bishop hats, and stern, pious faces. It made her giggle to think about the scolding these bishops would give a wayward sinner. The knights on their horses were incredible. The faces were obscured by armor, but the swords looked like they could cut and parry any minute now. And the horses! She had never seen such strong, fierce looking animals. Her imagination could easily picture these giant warhorses charging into battle with no fear. She just knew this was going to be an interesting game.

It took an hour or so to figure out the basic moves of each piece, and the general form of the game. By that time, Hatori reappeared out of Shigure's office to carry Tohru to bed and perform her last check up of the day. Shigure's and Hatori's eyes lit up at the sight of the two teens playing chess. Shigure commented, "Chess! Oh, what a wonderful game that is. It was very thoughtful of you to teach Tohru, Yuki."

Tohru looked around in a daze since she had not even heard the two men enter. She was concentrating on the black and white squares before her, trying to remember all the moves that each piece could perform. She had already lost a few key pieces because she had confused what the bishop could do with what the castles could do. She beamed at Yuki, "Yes. It was so sweet of Yuki to bring this wonderful game to fill in some of the slow hours of the day. I'm so happy. Now there is something else Yuki and I can share. Especially since, Hatori won't let me outside to visit the secret base."

Hatori smiled gently. He knew it was against Tohru's very nature to sit idle for so long. "Now, now, Tohru. You know you must get better before you can do such things. We would hate to have to send you to the hospital for a ruptured spleen. Surgery is a lot more difficult to recover from than just an illness. There are many people in this family that just don't want to see you in any more pain." He knelt next to the bundle of sick girl and gently brushed the bangs away from her flushed face.

Tohru smiled up into his caring face, "Thank you Hatori. I know I should be patient. It's just so hard. It makes me feel bad to not be able to contribute around the house. And you are right, I don't like needles and knives, so I'll do whatever is in my power to not have to go to the hospital." She tucked her arms against her body, with her hands in her lap, so there was no chance of her accidentally reaching out to grab his chest if she felt that she was falling. As usual, Hatori slid his arms under her legs, and around her back, and held her out, just far enough away from her body to prevent a transformation.

The checkup revealed her fever had risen just a bit, so he gave her a different medicine in an attempt to keep it under control. As he was packing everything up in his bag, he cleared his throat and started shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot. He reached in and pulled out a small book and turned back to her bed. He was definitely blushing as he approached her. He cleared his throat, "Um, Tohru. The other day, you asked me a question… about the previous cat, and his family." He paused and swallowed hard.

He handed her the book, which she took with a questioning look in her eyes. "Well, I did promise to get you a book, to help… explain some things." He sat nervously on the edge of her bed and tried to slip into his clinical persona. But he found this more difficult than he thought it would be. He had held similar talks with the members of the Zodiac, and other Sohma children, but this just seemed wrong somehow, to broach this subject with such an innocent girl.

"You need to know that there are many reasons not to have sex before marriage. There are diseases and emotional complications that are possible with a physical relationship. A man that truly loves you will be glad to wait until you are ready for this step. Don't let anyone pressure you into doing anything that makes you feel uncomfortable. No matter what Shigure and the others might insinuate, sex is supposed to be the ultimate expression of love in a marriage, and not just something that feels good. If anyone tries to pressure you, you can come to me, and I'll take care of him. No matter who it is." This last was said with a heated emphasis. Just the idea of someone trying to force themselves on this girl made him angrier than he could remember being in a while.

Tohru just sat there with her mouth open in shock, and a blush that she could not control. Was he going to give her the birds and the bees speech? Her mother had discussed the basics with her when she was 11 years old, but she was still oblivious to most of what happened. It seemed her mother couldn't bring herself to broach the subject any more than Hatori could. She told her where she should not let people touch, and stuff like that, but never the actual how-to of what was involved. Tohru wanted to make this easier on the flustered doctor so she smiled and thanked him. "I appreciate this so much, Hatori. I know this must be hard for you. I promise to listen to your advice, and I'll come to ask your opinion before I ever think about making such a life changing decision. And if anyone ever pressures me, I'll be sure to let you know."

Hatori's taut frame relaxed a bit at hearing this and he responded, "If there is anything you don't understand, please feel free to ask me. I am your family doctor after all." He leaned over and reached out for the book to explain just a bit to her. "There are sections that focus on the female reproductive system, and then the male reproductive system. Then there is a section that might answer your questions on the mechanics of… the act." His blush resurfaced. "Then there is a section about pregnancy, and the changes it brings. Then the section of the development of the fetus." He leaned back and let the book rest in her hands as he continued, "I know this is a bit more than you asked for, but I figured it was important to cover the basics with you that your mother might not have had the opportunity to teach you. Also, living in this house with a pervert, novelist and two teenage boys, you might need to know this information to protect yourself. Not to say that any of them might try anything. But, you ARE an innocent teenage girl, and I worry about you….." his voice trailed off to a whisper. His mind also added, that she reminded him too much of Kanna to allow her to be hurt and used by any of his possibly horny cousins.

In that moment, where he confessed to worry about her, Tohru wanted nothing more than to hug the good doctor and thank him for his concern. She knew his heart belonged to his former love, and that new woman that Shigure was scheming to hook him up with. Maybe, she could help with Shigure's plan to bring love back into the dragon's life. She smiled and placed the book on her nightstand and thanked him again, "You take such good care of me. How can I ever thank you? When I'm well, I'll have to make you a thank you meal for every trip you've made over here to check on me in the last few weeks. You won't have to worry about cooking for a few months."

Her announcement caused him to chuckle as he imagined the girl doing just that. He had seen the way she doted on Shigure, Kyo and Yuki. It warmed a spot inside him to think that he might get the same treatment, even if only for a short while. But that wasn't the reason that he cared for her. She was special. She was something that the Sohma family was very short on. Loving. Probably, the closest thing the Sohma family came to Tohru was Hiro's mother.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, alerting the two that Kyo was waiting in the hallway for his shift of sleeping in Tohru's room. It had been a while since the girl had wandered in her delirious sleep. Still, the danger of a reoccurrence had kept the two boys vigilant at night. Besides, the boys found that Tohru was rarely sleepy at the time of evening that Hatori put her to bed, and was very talkative before sleep claimed her. Neither boy admitted it, but they both secretly enjoyed talking and sharing their thoughts with Tohru in the quiet solitude of her comforting room.

Hatori called out that Kyo could enter, as he rose from the bed and collected his bag. With a half smile and slight bow, Hatori said good night and exited. Kyo drug his futon, pillow and blanket in, dragging them behind him. Tohru giggled a bit. Kyo cocked his head and asked, "What?!" She just shook her head and explained, "Oh, nothing much. You just look like a little boy, dragging his blanket behind him, wanting to climb in bed with his parents after a nightmare."

He huffed and dumped his futon right below her so it rested against the side of her bed where she was laying. The boys had decided on this placement so that if she got up in the middle of the night, she would have to literally step on them to get out. That way, they knew, no matter how asleep they were that she would wake them up.

He ignored the comment which would otherwise have embarrassed him and asked, "So, what was Hatori going on about? I thought he would never leave." Then, peeking through the corner of his eyes, he glanced at her as he spread his blankets. "Are you okay? Is anything wrong?" In the back of his mind, Hatori staying longer than normal for one of these checkups usually meant she had gotten worse.

Tohru shifted to her side and propped her head up on her arm to watch him move about her room. He was graceful. She could see why he was so good at martial arts. "No, I'm fine, just a bit of an increase in my fever. But other than that, ok." She wondered if she should share her book with Kyo. He was a boy after all. Surely he knew all this stuff already. "Hatori was just nice enough to get me a book to answer some questions I had." She suddenly felt self-conscious mentioning sex around Kyo. She could feel her face flame up in the hottest blush she had ever experienced. Suddenly, her innocent mind began picturing passages of Shigure's books with Kyo as the main male character. Oh my!

Kyo missed the flaming blush cover her face and asked, "What kind of questions? Is it anything I can help with?" and didn't look back towards her until he heard a strangling, sort of gasp come from the girl, followed by some harsh coughing. His concern spiked as he looked over to see the girl almost purple in the face, covering her mouth, coughing, with tears coming out of her closed eyes. He leaped up and put a hand on her shoulder, "Tohru! Are you alright? Should I run get Hatori back in here? I don't think he's left yet." Just before he turned to sprint out the door, she shook her head and opened her watering eyes. Finally, she gasped out, "No, it's okay. I just swallowed some spit down the wrong pipe." After a few more coughs, she wiped the tears away and smiled sheepishly, "Sorry to worry you."

Luckily for Tohru, Kyo had totally forgotten the conversation about the book and her questions in his panic over her distress. He settled down a bit, and she could almost see his body tensed like an angry cat with a fluffed, spiky tail. He groused, "Well, don't swallow your tongue or anything. I'd hate for all Hatori's care and attention to go down the drain over something so silly."

Tohru agreed, and resumed her position on her side, watching the red-headed boy she adored. He was so close when he was tucking his covers in that she couldn't help reaching out and stroking his lovely hair. It was just as soft as a cat's. She knew it would be. But, he ducked his head away from her hands and looked at her strangely. "Hey! What do you think you are doing?" he yelled a bit indignant.

She bit her lip and looked embarrassed, "I'm sorry. I've just wanted to touch your hair for so long. I didn't mean to make you mad." She looked down at her comforter and smoothed out the wrinkles.

Kyo settled down leaning against her bed, with his left arm up on the mattress, and rest his head on his arm, so that he was looking up at her. He knew that when she had a fever, she did things she wouldn't normally do. Hatori had explained that sometimes her normal inhibitions were affected by the fever, and that they should make certain allowances for her, as long as she wasn't hurting herself. He grasped her nervous hand with his right hand and soothed, "It's okay. I'm sorry for yelling. I didn't mind, it just surprised me. You can…..you can touch my hair…. If you still want to…" he stuttered to a stop and waited to see what she would do.

A smile brighter than the sun broke out on her face as she slid her hand out from under Kyo's right hand and reached back up to stroke his lovely red hair. She whispered, "Thank you." and worked her fingers through his hair. Kyo couldn't believe how nice it felt to have her touching him. This must be why cats purr when they are being petted. Normally, he would hate anything that reminded him that he had characteristics of a cat, but with Tohru, he didn't mind. She respected the Zodiac cat, and even wanted to start a Year of the Cat fan club. Silly girl. He closed his eyes and just enjoyed.

While she was indulging in her fantasy of petting Kyo's hair, Tohru started asking questions about the boy's day. It was the only way she could get any information out of him, as he was loathe to volunteer. Once she got him talking, he would usually open up and tell her how things went, and what he really felt about his day. Her best friends were being helpful in her absence, and making sure that Kyo wasn't left out of anything or picked on. Those were usually things that she did, but in her sickness, she had to rely on her friends to take up the slack. Talking with Kyo at night was the only way she could stay connected to him as he went about his busy day.

It tickled her when Kyo would complain about his own group of fan girls chasing after him and making his life miserable. How could she not giggle, when the lonely cat was complaining about not having a moment alone. Absently, while she was stroking his hair and listening, her hand ran down his face on one stroke, and toyed with the beads on his wrist that kept his true form concealed.

The shift in contact and the touch on his beads caused Kyo's eyes to snap open, and his body tensed. The last time anyone touched them, Kazuma had ripped them off to force his transformation in front of Tohru. He studied her face to search for any hint of revulsion or fear. Instead, he found only soft concern and curiosity.

Her voice sounded like she had been asleep, it was so soft, "Kyo?" He shifted a bit to show he was listening. "Your true form is really strong, isn't it." She fingered a blue bead, then a white bead before looking into his face. "I mean, I saw you gouge your claws through rocks like they were butter." He started to turn his face away in shame. It was still a touchy subject that she had seen him in that form that he hated so much. She lifted her hand from the beads and grabbed his chin to turn him back around. "Why didn't you use your strength of your true form to attack Akito or the others that taunted you? Use your strength to defend yourself and those you loved? If it was so important to beat the rat, why didn't you use your true form then?"

Kyo just sat there staring at the innocent girl. There was no judgment in her eyes. There was no accusation in her eyes. There was no condemnation in her eyes. There was only concern, caring and acceptance, as always. "I guess, I was always told that my true form was horrible, and should be hidden. That not being able to control it on my own was a weakness in my character. I never thought of it as anything but a curse."

Tohru stroked a finger down his cheek and her eyes drifted off in thought, "Hmm. How else would you keep someone stronger than you under control, than to make them feel that their strength was an abomination. Akito sure did a number on your family." Her eyes fluttered slightly and he knew that she was finally running out of steam.

Kyo knew that although her fever loosened up her tongue, it weakened her ability to stay awake very long at night. He missed the nights of talking to her when it was Yuki's turn to watch over her. Still, he wouldn't begrudge the rat his shift, because he secretly knew that Yuki also relished those talks into the night. With their busy lives, his with training at the dojo, and Yuki's with student council, there was very little time left over to visit with their favorite flower. So, in truth, this illness had offered them all a little oasis of time to visit and talk over things they would never touch in a normal day.

Kyo watched Tohru shift slightly so that her head was resting against her pillow. Her beautiful, wide eyes gently closed, even though she wanted to stay awake and talk more. He reached over to brush some stray wisps of hair from her face, and felt the slight heat of her flushed skin. He reminded himself to wake in a few hours and make sure her fever had not risen any further.

As her breathing evened out into the normal, sleeping pattern, he thought over what she said. Why **hadn't** he ever used his true form's strength? As far back as he could remember, Akito had been calling him a monster because of his curse. Still, she was right. He could have easily ripped Akito in half, even when he was just a child. The cat possessed immense power and hunting skill, just as a normal cat. It would have been easy to hunt down the head of the family and destroy him with just a swipe. Why had he never thought of that before? The rat's strength and prowess in martial arts could not match up to his if he combined his martial arts and his true form's strength. Why had any of the past cats been locked up? It would have been easy to break out of those flimsy bamboo bars over the windows and doors. Was the confinement only mental? Did the past cats WANT to be confined? Did the heads of the family back then threaten the cat's loved ones?

With these and other deep thoughts, Kyo glanced one more time at the sleeping girl he was protecting, and lay down on his own bed. With his hands crossed behind his head, he stared at the darkened ceiling and wondered deep and confusing thoughts.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Tohru concentrated on learning everything the little instruction book laid out for chess strategies. She had the chess set up before her on the table in front of her to work out all the examples in the book. It was harder than learning pre-calculus algebra, but she had a goal. Secretly, she was trying to learn some moves that Yuki had not mastered yet.

He was so good at learning that he almost picked up the moves on the first try. It was disheartening for Tohru since it was not so easy for her, but at the same time it was a great challenge. Shigure, Hatori and Ayame even helped by giving her secret tips during the day when Yuki was at school. Of course, this was after her homework was completed for the day.

Some days, after lunch, two of the older Sohmas took over her board and entertained her with their antics. It seemed that all the older Sohmas were extremely intelligent, and had mastered chess in their younger, awkward years. The funniest part was how they tried to use distraction to their advantage. Ayame and Shigure hammed it up and acted like clowns in an attempt to fluster Hatori into making careless moves. It rarely worked, but it made her laugh.

Of course, Hatori usually couldn't stay long enough to actually finish a complete game, since their matches could last for hours. It seemed that Akito did not like his personal physician to stray far from the compound. Luckily, Ayame seemed to have a photographic memory, and could set up the previous game even after weeks of not playing. Hatori also seemed to have an incredible memory for the placement of his pieces when Ayame "accidentally" misplaced them.

It was a Monday, and Tohru was actually a bit disappointed that she had no homework to complete. In her invalid state, homework was something to look forward to. And strangely enough, her grades had improved in the weeks she had been bed-bound. So, she submerged herself in learning chess moves that were new to even the Shigure, Hatori and Ayame.

Only an hour had passed after Yuki and Kyo reluctantly left for school, when Shigure's phone rang. Tohru cocked her head to the side to eavesdrop. Surely there was not a deadline for one of his books looming near. His editor had not been by threatening his body parts, or pleading for him to work. So, it must be something else.

She turned her head back to her happy little family of chess pieces and moved them about to imitate the maneuver she was trying to learn. A whimsical thought entered her head about cutting out pictures of the faces of the Zodiac members and taping them to the appropriate pieces.

Her mind wandered over each piece. Of course, Akito would be the king. I mean, naturally, he was the head of the family. That, and he didn't get out much. The king could only move one space in any direction. Yup, definitely Akito. The _evil_ king.

Who would be the queen? Her first thought was one of the female members, but the way Akito hated and hurt the women of the Zodiac, Tohru just couldn't see any of them protecting the king like the chess piece queen would. Her next natural thought was Ayame, since he was so feminine in every way but his voice. This made her giggle. There was no way that Ayame would be the queen, although that was another name for a cross-dresser. Hmmm, Ritsu maybe? No. He was too meek to go boldly all over the place attacking and defending.

Then the perfect member came to her as she looked at the clock to see how long it was until lunch and Hatori's visit. Yes! Hatori would be the perfect queen. He was always taking care of Akito. He went where he was needed. He could attack or defend with those powers of his. Yes, Hatori was the queen.

Then she moved on to the bishops. Not that any of the Zodiac were particularly religious, but these pieces were dangerous and she needed to pick just the right friends. The more she pondered the remaining Zodiac members, the more she was leaning towards either Shigure and Ayame as the bishops, or Yuki and Kyo. The older Sohmas were more chaotic than dependable. Yuki and Kyo could be trusted to act certain ways in almost predictable patterns. Finally, she decided Yuki and Kyo would be the bishops… striking out at their opponent and returning to the house.

So, that left Shigure and Ayame as the knights. Which, felt right to her. The knights had such a strange move. Two blocks up and one block over. It was so hard for her to remember to look at Yuki's knights and see that they could move in 4 different directions, and actually jump over other pieces. Yes, the older Sohmas were unpredictable enough to make wonderful knights.

The rooks were an easy choice. Obviously the most straightforward fighters left were Kagura and Hatsuharu. Funny, that she had never noticed the similarities in their personalities. Both could be sweet and mild, then could snap and turn into violent, swirling, death machines (at least as far as Kyo was concerned for Kagura). They both seemed to symbolize the proud castles that were their pieces.

Tohru giggled quietly to herself imagining the faces of her adopted family if they returned to find their faces attached to chess pieces. There was that family picture she took at the beach she could use. One of the shots had been ruined by the developer and had a big yellow block across the bottom of the print. It wouldn't take any time to cut out the faces and tape them on…. Too bad the game didn't have more pieces so she could use everyone.

She finally decided against the idea because she didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. Those who she had assigned might not like her using them, and those that had not been used might feel slighted, being left out. Still, maybe it would help her use the strategies if she pictured her friends faces on the board.

Shigure stepped out of his office and startled her. She had been so deep in thought she forgot he was even on the phone. He shuffled into the living room and brought the cordless phone with him that he placed on the table. "Tohru, dear. It seems that I've been summoned to the main house. Akito has something to discuss with me that can't wait. I never will understand the feigned sense of urgency that these minor things seem to generate. I hope you'll be fine by yourself for a short while. I could always call Ayame over to keep you company."

Tohru began protesting to calm his nerves, "Oh, no. That's alright. I'll be quite fine on my own. I've been alone many times and it does not bother me. I would hate to disturb Ayame from his shop. He works so hard to make such fanciful creations. One should never disturb an artist. Besides, I'm still trying to learn these moves, and Hatori should be by very soon." She smiled her most confident, disarming smile at the tall man that hovered above her and watched him visibly relax. It truly did touch her heart that these men were so concerned for her welfare.

So, by 9:30, she was waving at the receding back of Shigure as he left the house in the woods. Since it would be a good three hours before Hatori could be expected, at his earliest, she returned to studying her chess book.

The quiet warmth of the house lulled her into a sleepy state as minutes ticked by. No matter how much she wanted to read, her eyes refused to cooperate. Finally, she relented and placed the book on the table, and slid down into her sea of pillows and closed her eyes.

There was no way to tell how long she had drifted in the half awake state not quite awake, but not deep enough to be asleep. Something had aroused her mind. She kept her eyes pleasantly closed as she listened to the sounds of the house around her. There were the usual nature sounds entering from the open front door. Birds, bees, bugs. There were no telltale sounds of Shigure moving around in his kimono, or hints that Hatori had arrived. She was attuned to the sound of his car as he drove down the driveway. It could wake her from a dead sleep. There were no sounds that would indicate either Yuki or Kyo had returned home from school early. She lazily wondered what it could have been.

Then, she heard an out-of-place sound. It was a strange tapping noise, and it sounded nearby. Could that have been the sound that woke her? She tried to determine what it was. Did a mouse get into the house? Was it a woodpecker? When the sound came again, she decided to open her eyes to look for the source.

Sitting on the table not three feet away from her was the one person she feared most in all the world. Akito. His black, hateful eyes looked at her like she was a bug of the worst kind. Something to be squashed and scraped off his shoe. He fingered the chess pieces and tapped them from square to square in his impatience for her to open her eyes.

His cold, slimey voice made her shiver as he spoke, "Ah, I see you have finally noticed my presence." He picked up a pawn and smiled at it, "It has come to my attention that you have been distracting my dear Zodiac members. I never seem to see Hatori or Shigure anymore. They are always here with you. Even the younger members seem to flock to your side." His voice dropped a few tones to sound condescending, "Poor Tohru, so sick and pitiful. You need to be waited on hand and foot by _my _Zodiac." He leaned threateningly close to her face as he sneered. "Don't think I haven't noticed what you are doing. You want to take them all away from me. But, there's a flaw in your plan. They don't need you. They _need_ me. I am their God. They are bound to me for all eternity. You need to keep your nose out of places where it doesn't belong, or it might get cut off."

He leaned back and gently placed the pawn back on the table as he rose to tower over her. "You don't seem to understand that the only reason you remain here in this house is at my pleasure. If I just say the word, Hatori will erase your memories, and Shigure will toss you back out on the street where a stray like you belongs." The sickening smile returned to grace his pale face, "Kanna learned her place. You need to learn yours. It would be a shame if one of your dear friends were injured because of you. Terrible things happen every day, and how could you live with the guilt and shame? You've lost your father and mother, how horrible it would be to lose your surrogate family or friends." Those eerie black eyes bored into her very soul and left a chilling ache.

He turned and sauntered towards the open door and paused just past the edge of the kotatsu. "Yes, the sooner you learn your place, the better it will be for everyone." His voice rose in volume, pitch and anger. "No one needs you, you stupid, pathetic, wretched girl. You need to stay out of it. YOU NEED TO LEAVE MY ZODIAC ALONE!" and with that last shout, Akito grabbed the edge of the kotatsu closest to him, and flipped the entire table and its contents over onto her.

Tohru lay under the table in a state of shock. This time, there had been no other around that she was protecting from Akito's rage. It had been directed solely at her. His acidic, hurtful words had wormed their way into her head and wrapped painfully around her heart. The times she had encountered him before, she had been bolstered by the fear for her friends, and her need to protect them. It was different when defending yourself.

She strained to hear any more from Akito to indicate a further attack or exit, or anything. He floated like a vengeful spirit and seemed to appear out of nowhere. But this time, she could barely detect padded footsteps that moved away from the house followed by a sinister snicker that faded. Still, she held her breath until she heard a distant car crank up and drive away down the gravel drive.

As the silence settled on the house, she exhaled and proceeded to hyperventilate in the aftershock of the encounter. Thoughts swirled painfully around in her brain for some time before she started to take notice of her surroundings.

The table rested painfully across her abdomen and leaned up against the wall behind her. It was a good thing she was so close to the wall, or it would have simply flipped over on top of her and pinned her to the floor. Her legs that had been warmly snuggled under the kotatsu, were now exposed to the chilly morning air, making her shiver.

Scattered all around her, and on top of her were her beloved chess pieces, and all the snacks that Kyo had arranged for her. The practical part of her mind that was beginning to function thought, "What a waste of perfectly good food."

The pain was beginning to become unbearable as the heavy, solid-wood table teetered on her stomach. Why did Shigure have to replace the busted table with such a heavy one? With her shaking hands, Tohru tried to push the massive table back over onto its legs. But it was those very legs that were giving her trouble. She didn't have quite enough strength to push hard enough to right the table.

She instead, tried to wiggle out from under the pinning weight. That didn't work either. The darn thing was square, and one end was being held up off the floor by her poor body. So, in a last ditch effort, she decided to lift up on the end of the table and heave it off of her. In that quiet practical part of her mind, her voice of reason warned her, "Hatori is going to be mad. He said no physical exertion." But, what else could she do? Lay there and wait for someone to move furniture for her?

With a super-human (at least for Tohru) heave of her arms and upper body, she got the table to teeter up off of her body. With another big push, the kotatsu crashed back down on its legs with a flutter of the skirt. A loud noise echoed through the room as the heater dislodged itself from the table and bounced across the floor.

Tohru flopped back against her pillows and proceeded to catch her breath from the exertion. Little by little, she picked up the items off the floor and replaced them on the table surface, except for the scattered food. That she placed in the little trash can that survived the onslaught of the table.

With everything cleaned up, Tohru shook from the aftereffects of the adrenaline caused by Akito. How was she supposed to act like nothing had happened? What could she tell Hatori or Shigure when they came home to this mess? Did she want to tell Yuki and Kyo what had happened? That would just start more trouble between the boys and the head of the family. And what had he meant by that threat to hurt her friends? What should she do now?

Tohru couldn't think straight as she worried over all these matters. It took a bit before she noticed the excruciating pain radiating from her abdomen. Her eyes rounded with concern. Hadn't Hatori said something once about if the pain got worse? But, this wasn't that bad. As the pain caused her to sweat from the intensity, she worried over what she should do.

She really didn't want to call Hatori. He was so busy all the time, and didn't need her calling him and getting him in more trouble with Akito. But, she was alone, and the pain was getting worse, and she was beginning to get really scared.

Finally, when she didn't think she could stand the growing pain anymore, she dug the phone out of her blankets, and dialed the kindly doctor's office number. It rang and rang, and he never picked up. She worried her lower lip and tried to think who else she could call. Only the older Sohmas were around during the day. Maybe Shigure was done with his errands.

She ended the call and punched in Shigure's cell phone number. It rang, and she subconsciously counted the number of rings. When it reached the fourth ring, she began to sob. He wasn't going to answer either. Still, she sat there listening to the rings while she tried to decide what to do.

The sweetest sound she ever heard was Shigure's silly sing-song voice when he picked up the phone on his end. "Hello. You've reached Shigure. How may I be of service? Your wish is my command." She was so relieved; all she could do was cry for a few minutes as she gathered her thoughts of what to say. She could hear the confusion in his voice as he again said, "Hello? Is someone there?"

For a moment, she was terrified that he was going to hang up before she forced any words past the lump in her throat. But, he must have looked at the display for the caller I.D. as he questioned, "Tohru? Is that you? Are you crying? What's the matter?" The tension in his voice built as he assumed it was her on the other end.

Amid the tears and pain, Tohru squeaked out, "Shigure. Please. It hurts. Please." She hoped she was making enough sense that the man could understand her.

His voice was deadly serious and the concern was plain, "Tohru, dear, what hurts. Are you okay? What happened? Hatori is right here with me. He wants to speak to you." Then there was some shuffling noise as the phone was passed to the serious doctor.

She was almost as happy to hear Hatori's voice as she had been to hear Shigure answer the phone. His deep voice questioned, "Tohru, what happened? Tell me where it hurts."

With a great effort, she tried to control her whimpering as she whispered, "Akito…he came here….He….I was asleep…he said…" the sobbing returned and she forced out, "Please… it hurts…. Please!"

Hatori's voice was concerned, but commanding, "We'll be right there. Don't move. I'll give the phone back to Shigure so he can talk to you while we drive over." Then, he tossed the phone back to his pale cousin and scrambled for any supplies he thought he might need. Hatori picked up his office phone and called for an ambulance to meet them at Shigure's house. Better safe than sorry. And from the little bit he had gleaned from the sobbing girl, her condition must have worsened considerably for her to actually call for help.

The two men sprinted to Hatori's dark car that waited just outside his house. As they were buckling up and backing out, Shigure saw a shadow in the window of Akito's home. It gave him chills though he didn't know why.

Hatori broke several speed limits on the way to help Tohru and Shigure kept her on the line. Although most of what she said was incoherent, he kept up his end of the conversation. The men exchanged what they knew, and realized that Akito had purposely drawn them both away from Shigure's house to leave Tohru unprotected. Worse than that, Akito had done something to the girl that caused her pain, and reduced her to a sobbing mess. Knowing the history of the head of their family, both men imagined the worst.

OooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooO

Please review. "Regard me kindly." said Tohru


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Kyo stared out the classroom window, wishing with all his might that he could be home right now. He snorted a bit and thought, "When did Shigure's house become home?" Then his mind wandered over the sweet memories of Tohru wandering about doing her chores and spreading smiles wherever she went like flower pedals. He knew she was at home, and probably bored silly, rather like he was sitting here in class. He wasn't as good at being charming as Shigure or as smart as Yuki, but she seemed to enjoy sitting and talking with him. He could make her smile as well as anyone in the family.

His soul had felt more at ease since he had known her. Even more at peace than when he was at Kazuma's dojo. It was wonderful to have at least one non-family member who knew of his curse that didn't think him a monster. He knew his place in the family. In a way, he'd always known.

He was the scapegoat. He was the poor relation that made the others feel like their lives were better. Kagura had even said so in her confession. She had felt like her life was the worst life anyone could have until she met him. His was worse, so she felt better about hers. He closed his eyes and thought how pitiful it was to have to tear someone else down to make yourself feel better. But isn't that what Akito was all about? No one was allowed to be happier than that miserable Akito.

He thought of his impending confinement. It wouldn't be long now before he would be locked away from the world, and from _her_. How could it end this way? He didn't deserve this. He had never done anything to anyone. He never asked to be the stinkin' cat! But it had been part of the deal made with that devil, Akito. Most of all, Tohru didn't deserve this. She had brought them all so much happiness and shown them a different world, not ruled by Akito's poisoning darkness. How could any of them go back to the way it was before?

He had heard a song once, which spoke of having changed. The singer couldn't go back to the room that she lived in as a child because she had grown too much, emotionally, to fit there. But still, the singer was afraid to move on to the promise of something better because it was unknown. And in her confusion, she had started romanticizing the things from her old life, even though they were not all that great. It applied to him and all his cousins. They had grown and changed, and could never fit back into those places that they lived in before meeting Tohru.

But, he had noticed something change in Tohru. She wasn't quite as oblivious as everyone seemed to think she was. He could see her stop and get caught up in her inner thoughts more than she used to. She had come to them a quiet girl with her own demons, but that didn't stop her from laughing at the slightest thing. Slowly, she had helped each of them deal with their own inner turmoil. As he thought back on it, it almost seemed like this one girl had experienced every type of hurt that all the Zodiac members had experienced in her own life. He wasn't sure if that were true, but she had suffered losses equal to, if not greater than, theirs. And for each of them, she had kind, loving words of encouragement and hope. How could anyone retain such hope in the face of such despair? Tohru was a wonder.

A gnawing feeling began to take hold in his gut. He looked at the clock on the classroom wall and tried to decipher this strange feeling. It wasn't time for lunch. He didn't exactly feel hungry. Instead, it was more like a worry feeling; anxiety. His eyes caught a random movement across the room from him. Yuki was glancing around with a deep frown on his face, as if looking for something out of place. Everyone else was engrossed in the practice test that was being administered.

Kyo thought to himself, "So, Yuki feels it too. What could it be?" At that moment, Yuki's eyes made contact with Kyo's glare and they studied each other for a moment. The anxious feeling grew at an alarming rate. Something was definitely wrong.

The faint sound of running footsteps grew louder outside in the hallway. Kyo broke off his staring contest with Yuki to glance towards the window in the door. There, in the little pane of glass, was the terrified face of Momiji. Kyo jumped up and headed for the door. Now he knew something was wrong if other members of the family could feel it. What could it be?

Yuki was right behind him, ignoring the complaints coming from the teacher that had finally noticed the disturbance. Yuki just called over his shoulder, "Student Council Emergency." and kept running. In the hallway, they met Hatsuharu and Momiji. Without another word, the four sprinted towards the nearest exit. They all felt pulled towards Shigure's house. Kyo asked between pants, "Does anyone know what's going on?" Hatsuharu shrugged and only said one word. "Tohru." That was enough and everyone continued running.

Shigure had never thought it could take so long to reach his house from the main house. He had written about such situations in many novels, but this was the first time he had experienced panic making time seem to crawl. Beside him, Hatori's normally serious face was twisted into a scowl of intense concentration. Shigure couldn't even think of anything funny to lighten the atmosphere.

Shigure kept talking nonsense into the phone to keep Tohru calm. He discussed chess moves and recipes he had collected for her to try. He even at one point tried to tease her about which guy she liked the best among the cousins. He flirted and chatted like his life depended on it. Of course, he didn't want to think that maybe _her_ life depended on keeping her talking.

Hatori mentally cataloged the possible problems that Tohru could be facing. He didn't realize it, but he mumbled loud enough that Shigure could hear it over the noise of the car and phone. The biggest problem was if Tohru's spleen had ruptured. Knowing Akito, he would not be above hitting a sick girl. If her spleen was damaged, she could be bleeding internally. She would experience pain, her abdominal muscles would be rigid, and then she would become confused and light headed from blood loss. Eventually, she might even go into shock. So, Hatori stressed to Shigure the importance of keeping her talking.

The lane to the house finally came into view, and Hatori took the turn so quickly, the black sedan nearly careened off the gravel road into a tree. Shigure couldn't help but squeal in surprise and comment to Tohru on Hatori's horrible driving skills.

The car barreled down the lane. Suddenly, the figures of 4 people appeared on the road around a bend, and Hatori had to twist the wheel sharply to the left to avoid hitting them. The front of the car was now pointed at a large, ancient tree that was going to do some serious damage to their car, if they hit it. He then yanked the wheel harshly back to the right, to swing the back end of the car back around to follow the front wheels, and head back down the lane. The thick cloud of white dust that trailed behind them enveloped the 4 running figures until they were invisible.

Shigure squinted over his shoulders and realized that the figures on the road were Yuki, Kyo, Momiji and Hatsuharu. From the brief glimpse at their faces, he could tell the boys were worried. How could they know that something was happening with Tohru? Or was it just some excuse to get out of school early. Shigure thought about this for a moment and realized that Yuki, being the straight-laced student that he was, would never just skip school.

The sedan slid to a stop in front the house, and the two men vaulted out of the doors before the cloud of dust could catch up with them. Shigure hung up the cell phone and called out, "Tohru? We're here. Where are you?"

Hatori slammed the front door to the side and stepped into the front hall as he looked around at the mess of the main room. The heater from the kotatsu was the first thing to greet them. For some reason, it was no longer under the table where it belonged, but was lying broken by the front door. As his eyes adjusted to the darker room, he followed the whimpering sounds across the room.

Tohru was lying on her usual pallet of blankets, under the kotatsu. He was shocked to see her curled up into a tight little ball on her side, with sweat pouring off her from the pain. He immediately stooped beside her and carefully removed the phone from her clutched hand. In his best, calming voice he asked, "Tohru? Can you hear me? Can you tell me what happened and where it hurts?" He pulled out his thermometer and stethoscope in a professional manner. Then he pulled out a blood pressure cuff and carefully wrapped it around her upper arm.

While he was pumping up the blood pressure cuff, Tohru turned her face towards him and frowned. The tears were still pouring out of her eyes, but she seemed surprised to see him there. The squeezing on her upper arm made her whimper and shift. He knew it was uncomfortable, but he needed to know if her blood pressure was falling, which would indicate a rather large loss of blood. Shigure folded himself on the other side of Tohru and watched on with worry. Unconsciously, he reached down for one of her blankets, and pulled it up as far as he could without interfering with Hatori's examination. The dog knew that keeping a patient warm was the first step to preventing shock.

When Hatori had let all the air out of the blood pressure cuff, he swiftly undid the Velcro, and tossed the tool back into his bag with a loud, "Shit! Where is that ambulance!" Shigure looked up into his friend's usually calm face and found definite lines of worry. He reached out to grasp the sleeve of the agitated doctor and asked what was wrong using only his eyes. Hatori looked back and stated, "Her blood pressure is dangerously low which indicates a ruptured spleen and fairly severe internal bleeding. We need to get her to the hospital and into surgery!"

Just at that moment, the four panting boys ran in through the still open front door. Wild eyes scanned around the room and tried to make sense of what they saw and what they felt. Momiji and Hatsuharu collapsed into quivering heaps on the floor while Yuki and Kyo used each other as support to remain mostly standing. Kyo huffed out, "What…. happened…… to …… Tohru?" Yuki added, "We……felt ……something….. was….. wrong."

Hatori continued fussing over the increasingly confused Tohru while Shigure took it upon himself to explain what they knew so far. "Well, it seems that Akito purposely called Hatori and I away from the house. While I was visiting Hatori, Tohru called in tears and pain saying something about Akito coming by. We just got here ourselves and an ambulance should be arriving any minute. Do you boys think you could go out to the main road and direct them here? It might be hard to see the entrance from the main road."

Yuki and Kyo stood up straight with stricken looks on their faces, while Momiji started crying softly. Kyo asked what they were all thinking, "Is it that serious?" Hatsuharu sprung up from the floor and jogged back out from where they had just come. "I'll go." Kyo didn't wait for an answer from the harried doctor, he simply turned and sprinted after the cow. Those remaining in the room heard, "Yea right. Like YOU could give anyone directions! You'd probably get lost on the driveway yourself!"

Shigure rose from his position next to Tohru, announcing, "I'll go call her grandfather to let him know we are taking her to the hospital. I'm sure he'll meet us there." So, with that space vacated, Momiji slowly crawled up next to the girl that he liked so much. He was still winded, but he managed to strike up a conversation with her, and be cheerful.

Tohru turned her glassy eyes towards Momiji and tried to smile through her hazy pain. It was hard. All she wanted to do was drift away so she wouldn't feel this much discomfort. But that would be rude. She could already see the little tears welling up in the bunny's eyes and she reached a trembling hand out to sooth him. He grasped onto her hand after she had wiped away his tears, and brought to his lips to kiss it.

At the moment, Hatori was gently palpating her abdomen, trying not to aggravate her pain. Still, he needed to confirm his worst fears. He was greeted with the rigid abdominal muscles he had expected. This was a common symptom of the internal bleeding from a ruptured spleen. Then, he gently pressed around in the area of her spleen, and she let out a whine. Damn! He anxiously ran his hand through his hair trying to think what he could do here to stabilize her while they waited for the ambulance. Swiftly, he moved down a bit and pried her legs out from under the table, and propped them up on top of the table. He then grabbed the discarded blankets around her, and piled them on top of her sweating frame.

Shigure hurried back into the room announcing that Tohru's grandfather would indeed meet them at the hospital. Then, it was just a matter of waiting. Momiji kept murmuring things to keep Tohru awake, while the older men shifted nervously in their helplessness.

Finally, they all breathed a sigh of relief when they heard the commotion of the ambulance crunching down the driveway. No sound had ever been so welcomed. Yuki looked out the open front door to see the ambulance with Kyo hanging off one mirror and Hatsuharu hanging off the other. Yuki almost smiled watching the cat giving directions to the driver and gesturing for them to "Hurry the hell up!" Yes, Kyo's voice could even carry over the running engine and wailing siren.

The four boys pulled back and watched in awe as the world exploded into non-stop action. The paramedics grabbed boxes and stretchers and disappeared into the house. There wasn't enough space in the front room, so even Shigure was ejected to join the boys on the porch. It all had an air of unreality to it. Hatori was shouting directions in a voice that never really rose in volume; it just seemed like shouting since he was so authoritative. They watched as an IV was set up in her arm, and some weird blow-up pants were put on her. They later found that these were trauma pants or anti-shock pants and were to help keep her blood pressure up since it might be too far to the hospital. They saw the paramedics hook up some wires to her chest, which made the boys blush, thinking about those strangers' hands being THERE! Then, she was placed gently onto a stretcher and whisked out of the house and into the ambulance.

Hatori turned to the group of cousins on the porch and tossed Shigure his keys. "I'm riding in the ambulance with Tohru to monitor her condition. You bring the boys and anything that Tohru might need in the hospital. She might be in emergency surgery by the time you get there, so hurry." As Hatori was climbed, and right before the door shut, he called back, "And Shigure, drive carefully. I'll make you personally pay for any damage to that car!"

After the ambulance roared away into the distance, the quiet descended on the shocked group like a blanket. Each mind was struggling to comprehend what had happened, and what was about to happen. At least, none of them were standing there with their mouths hanging open, although, Momiji was the closest to that description.

Shigure was the first to come out of his stupor and started thinking rationally. "Well, we need to gather some things for Tohru's stay at the hospital. She might be there a few days if she has to have surgery like Hatori feared." And the older man shuffled his way back into the house, followed by 4 boys like baby ducks after a mama duck.

The group was shocked at the condition of the front room. The kotatsu was leaning up against a wall. The little blanket bed that they had made for Tohru was torn up, with blankets going every which way. Everything that had been on the table was unceremoniously dumped in a pile on the floor, and there was debris from the paramedics supplies scattered about the open space.

Wasn't it just the night before that they had gathered around the friendly table and done homework then played chess? The room no longer resembled the inviting space where they enjoyed being together and taking Tohru's mind off being sick. Honestly, the room looked like a bomb had been detonated.

Hatsuharu knelt down and poked at the dented and damaged heater. He picked it up by a wire like it was a dead animal and asked, "Sensei? Isn't this supposed to be under the table? What's it doing all the way over here?"

Shigure just sighed and explained, "Tohru said Akito had been here, but she didn't ever get around to saying what he had done. Knowing him, it was probably not pretty. That was there when we arrived, so I don't really know how it got there." Shigure looked very upset for a moment, then put on his business face and started issuing orders in a high, sing-song voice. "Right, now Tohru will need some clothes, and her toiletries. She'll probably appreciate something to do in the hospital, like reading, or games. Anything else we forget we can return for this evening. Right!" he clapped his hands together in delight, "Now I'll go get her clothes together!"

Just the idea of the big pervert rifling through her unmentionables made all 4 boys shout in unison, "NO!" Of course, Kyo added a few more comments to his rant. Momiji volunteered to retrieve her clothes and pajamas.

So Shigure tried again, "Fine, then I'll gather my flowers bathing supplies and toiletries." Again, the thought of him touching Tohru's mysterious bathroom possessions that hid in her private, boys-off-limits drawer of the shared bathroom sent a quiver of revulsion through the boys. Kyo immediately volunteered for this job, and for some reason, Yuki did not object. Probably because Yuki didn't really want to face the mortification of having to go through those objects. It was almost as bad as raiding her panty drawer!

Before Shigure could make anymore perverted suggestions, Yuki volunteered to gather things to amuse Tohru during her stay at the hospital. He raced to her bedroom and found Momiji carefully folding some clothes into a duffle bag. Yuki gathered her latest fiction book, some of her long term projects for school, and the picture of her Mom that she kept with her at all times. Thinking about her latest obsession with learning chess, he carried these objects to the main room to gather the chess set and book.

In the main room, Hatsuharu and Shigure were trying to set everything back to rights while they waited. The little heater would probably never work properly again, so they simply set it out on the porch. The table was placed back in the middle of the floor. Hatsuharu complained, "Sensei. Why did you have to buy such a heavy table?" Shigure simply laughed, "Well, those two are so into fighting that they are always breaking my house. The last table was smashed to bits in a fit of rage, so I thought I'd get one that would be more of a challenge." No one in the house really knew that the very heaviness of that table had contributed to Tohru's injuries.

Yuki started moving about, trying to find all the chess pieces that had been flung to the four corners of the room. Some pieces were missing, so he started folding up the blankets that had served as Tohru's makeshift bed. He found several pieces buried among the covers.

It was only a few minutes later that Kyo was heard hurrying Momiji down the stairs with their supplies. As expected, Kyo's face had a blush that looked like it might become permanent. He was muttering about silly girls and their useless products. When the two rounded the corner into the front room, the others stopped cleaning and moved towards the sedan. Yuki tossed his treasures into the duffle bag that Momiji was holding open, and then they sprinted after Shigure.

As they were loading into the car, Kyo looked skeptically at Shigure getting behind the wheel. "Are you sure you can drive this thing? I mean, it would be really crappy to get into an accident on the way to the hospital."

Shigure merely waved his hand in a dismissive gesture and reassured the nervous boys. "Yes of course I can drive. I'm an excellent driver. It is just that I choose not to. Besides, why should I drive when Hatori seems to enjoy being in control so much?" Though this sounded reasonable, it did nothing to calm their concerns. Still, this was the only way they had to reach Tohru, so the four boys said nothing more. That didn't mean that they didn't watch the older man like a hawk, and hang on for dear life when rounding corners at a high rate of speed.

It was an exhausted group that finally found their way into the lobby of the hospital. Shigure approached the information desk and pulled out all his charm to schmooze the poor hapless woman into telling them where Tohru was. It seemed that she had gone straight from the emergency room to have some tests run. Shigure's face faltered for a moment, and the boys behind him all looked stricken. Regaining his composure, Shigure asked the kind woman if she could page Hatori for them.

Yuki asked in a voice barely above a whisper, "Is that such a good idea? What if he's in with Tohru? We don't want to interrupt him!"

Shigure turned slightly and smiled affectionately at his younger cousin, "Hatori doesn't do surgery. He would have found the best surgeon in the area to handle sweet Tohru's case. Don't worry. If he was truly preoccupied, Hatori would simply ignore me, like he always does."

Not a moment later, the phone rang at the information desk and the friendly woman told the caller, who was undoubtedly Hatori, that his party was looking for him at her desk. They didn't have to wait for long before the tall figure of the Sohma doctor approached them from one of the intersecting hallways.

Hatori explained to the group, "She is having a CT scan to determine the severity and location of the bleeding. Normally, if the bleeding is not too severe, we could have just admitted her and monitored her condition. But it seems that she may need surgery to either repair the rupture or remove her spleen. The CT scan will show the surgeon if he can proceed with a non-invasive laparoscopic procedure, or if he will have to use a conventional surgical procedure. " He scanned the faces of the group, and added for their benefit, "But I'm sure she'll come out fine. Nothing keeps our Tohru down for long."

With that explained, he led them to the waiting room and disappeared back into the antiseptic halls of the hospital. There they met Tohru's grandfather and Aunt. Although, the Aunt did not stay long after giving the three men that her niece lived with a nasty look. Kyo muttered, "That woman never did like us after we rescued Tohru from her insulting clutches." Yuki agreed, "It's a wonder someone as nice as Tohru can have relatives who are so mean-spirited." Momiji piped in, "I sure hope Tohru is going to be okay. She promised to teach me that chess game you guys are learning. I want to be part of the chess club too." Hatsuharu smiled his tiny smile and wrapped a protective arm around Momiji's shoulders, "You like anything that makes her smile." Momiji just smiled up at his older cousin and nodded his head. Truthfully, the rabbit thought, they could all just start a Tohru fan club, and it would be just as much fun.

It was nearly a half hour later that everyone was settled down in the waiting room. The guys had explored looking for snack machines and brought back something for everyone. Of course, someone had to accompany Hatsuharu or he would have ended up in another city. Hatori had returned to wait with his family for any news from the CT scan. A television hung from the ceiling in the corner but no one paid it any attention.

Shigure finally thought of a question that had occurred to him during all the excitement, "Why were you boys running back to the house?"

Yuki spoke up for all of them, "Well, we felt something was wrong. It was a strange, gnawing feeling, like being hungry, or nervous. I thought it was just me, until I saw Kyo looking around for the source of the urgency. Then, Momiji showed up in the hallway and we knew it wasn't just us. Momiji was the one to know it had something to do with Tohru."

Momiji simply looked down and shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know how. It just felt like something was wrong with her. The feeling was so strong, that I knew I'd go crazy if I didn't do something about it."

A doctor appeared in the opening of the waiting room and Hatori immediately jumped up and hurried over to his colleague. After some hushed conversation, the new arrival scurried off and Hatori turned to face his relatives. He announced, "Well, the CT scan results indicate the Dr Yamato can proceed with a laparoscopic procedure to repair Tohru's spleen." He walked over and sat next to Shigure who still looked like the doctor was speaking Greek. "That means, they won't have to remove her whole spleen, and they won't have to cut her open like a traditional surgical procedure. Recovery will be quicker and she won't be in quite as much discomfort. Depending on how she responds to the transfusions, and barring any new bleeding, she should be back at home in a few days."

The boys slumped down in relief, and even Shigure seemed to sag. Hatori rose to his feet and gave Shigure a knowing look, "I'm going to call my office and let them know where I am. If there are any other emergencies, they can just page me." Shigure knew he was really saying that he was going to let his assistants know where he was if Akito started pitching a fit. Shigure's face hardened in anger as he thought about Akito's manipulations and how he had harmed an innocent Tohru. It was truly pathetic for the head of the Sohma household to be jealous of and threatened by a sixteen year old girl!

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Please review "Regard me kindly!"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

It was late in the afternoon before another doctor came and talked to Hatori. In his calm doctor voice, Hatori relayed the message to those waiting that it was simply an update on the progress of the surgery and that everything was going well. Tohru had been in surgery for what seemed like forever to her surrogate family. Normally antsy and argumentative, the teenage cousins were having a horrible time keeping their conflicts under control. Numerous altercations had been avoided by Hatori or Shigure speaking a calming word while separating the feuding, worried boys. Yuki and Kyo finally resolved to sit on opposite sides of the room and at different ends, so they couldn't even really see each other. It seemed silly to Hatsuharu, but it did keep the cat and rat from fighting like idiots.

A few hours ago, Kazuma arrived with Kagura and Rin in tow. It seemed that the two girls had been practicing martial arts at the dojo when the call came in about Tohru's unfortunate incident, as it was being called. Ayame had also appeared after closing time at his shop, in a flurry of gestures and flowering words of devotion, determined to find out what had happened to their princess. Without knowing exactly what happened, none of the Zodiac members were willing to accuse the head of the family. It would be suicide to jump to conclusions and anger Akito.

So, Kazuma and Kagura sat in Kyo's corner of the waiting room, trying to take his mind off the surgery and the risks involved. Needless to say that Tohru's grandfather, Ayame, Shigure and Hatori sat somewhere in the neutral middle of the room, with Ayame sitting rather close to his brother, Yuki. Hatsuharu and Momiji sat with Yuki, trying to calm his fears. None of the other family members could come, and none of those present really wanted to see Akito until they knew what transpired.

Since there was a non-family member present, no one was free to discuss family politics or the curse. As such, the conversation was stilted, and lagged often. At least once an hour, Shigure and Ayame staged some type of touchy-feely angsty erotic performance that only seemed to anger and embarrass the family members present. Which was not the reaction the two extroverts had hoped to achieve. They only acted that way to lighten a mood, but this was not working presently, so they finally stopped the senseless act.

Finally, when it seemed that the younger generation just could not sit still another moment, a weary doctor in surgeon scrubs approached the door of the waiting area. Hatori literally jumped up and sprinted to this man. Everyone in the room stilled and waited. After some extensive mumbling, the surgeon turned to leave, and Hatori turned to face the room. The smile brightening Hatori's face told everyone more than any words could that the outcome had been positive.

Hatori announced, "Tohru is out of surgery and doing fine. There were no complications during the procedure and they managed to repair the rupture without having to remove her spleen. She's in recovery right now, and will be wheeled to a room in about an hour. Then we will be allowed to visit her once the anesthesia wears off." Relieved laughter echoed in the room, and a giggling Momiji found himself tossed up into the air by a happy Hatsuharu.

Kyo let out the breath he had been holding and slumped back into his seat. He could feel tears forming on the corners of his eyes, and he closed them to stave off any embarrassing emotions. He was so relieved that he didn't even complain when Kagura hugged him, or when Kazuma put a supportive arm around his shoulders. It seemed like these people knew how much Tohru meant to the cursed cat, even if he tried his hardest to hide it from everyone. In truth, she was the only woman that had every honestly accepted him for who he was, true form included. Not even his mother had loved him like Tohru did.

On the opposite corner, Yuki was smiling also, and watching his rival out of the corner of his eye. He felt the same relief that Kyo did for much the same reason. At that moment, it didn't matter to Yuki if the love he felt for Tohru was that of a girlfriend or mother, or sister. She loved him for who he was, curse included, and he loved her for her support and kindness. She gave him the courage to face his future and make it whatever he wanted it to be. She helped him see past the darkness that Akito had instilled in him and to find what was good in the world. If something had happened to her, his world would have been cast back into bitter darkness.

The older Sohmas exchanged quiet glances that expressed their thankfulness for the safety of the one who could possibly finally set them free from this awful cursed life. In a way, she had already freed them from so much. She had spared them from a hopeless life of merely existing. They might be unfairly pinning their hopes on her thin shoulders, but at least they had hope because of her. Kazuma was especially thankful because the petite woman had already done more for Kyo than anyone in his short, miserable life. She had accepted his true form, and helped him lead a normal, teenage life with school, friends, and pleasant memories. Even if Kyo still had to enter confinement, he had truly lived while he had been out.

An hour later, after hurrying to the hospital cafeteria for dinner, the family was allowed to enter her room. Momiji carried the duffle bag with the necessities for the stay in the hospital, so he was allowed to enter first, with her grandfather along side of him. The rest filed in behind them and crowded around the bed in the private room. Shigure made sure she had the best room he could arrange.

Everyone was a bit shocked to see how very pale she looked in the hospital gown, tucked under the sterile, crisp white sheets. Several medical monitors surrounded her, emitting a variety of noises, and she had multiple tubes attached to her arms and one up to her nose. Hatori carefully explained the function of everything so the room's occupants would be more at ease. Ayame almost passed out at seeing a bag of blood hanging on the IV stand being administered to her through a tube in her arm.

All of this was common place for Rin and Hatsuharu, so they removed the duffle bag from Momiji's nerveless fingers, and set about personalizing the barren little room with Tohru's possessions. The prized picture of her mother was placed prominently on the rolling table that her meals would be served on. Kagura joined in and helped to place her clothing in the drawers of the little bureau that served as a night stand.

Once everything was put away, everyone loosened up a bit and a conversation started with the grandfather and the older Sohmas. He was interested in hearing about the living conditions that his grand-daughter had chosen for herself that made her so happy. The men discussed her education and how Yuki helped her maintain her good grades, and how Kyo helped her learn to protect herself. Shigure discussed his participation in the parent-teacher conference and how he tried to maintain a stable environment at home among the rambunctious teenagers.

A squeak from the bed in the center of the room drew everyone's attention. Her grandfather quickly moved to grasp her exposed hand and called her name. Tohru's eyes fluttered open and looked everywhere without landing on any one thing. It was obvious from the dazed expression that she really wasn't awake yet. She opened her mouth and said, "Frying pan." Then closed her eyes again. Everyone in the room held their breath for a moment, then the snickering began. Shigure covered his mouth then asked, "I wonder if we could get her to divulge some secrets while she's so out of it?" While this earned a snicker from her grandfather and Ayame, most of the visitors glared at the tricky dog.

A few minutes later, her eyes opened again in response to the laughter and she tried to focus her eyes on her grandfather. The old man leaned over and kissed her on the forehead and explained, "Your Aunt came by to drop me off and see how you were doing. But, unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your point of view, she had to leave for an appointment." Tohru's eyes crossed as she tried to focus on his face and more laughter went up in the room. She only murmured a confused, "Hmmm?" before her eyes rolled back up into her head and she was out again.

Ayame commented in his sing-song, "This is more fun than watching Yuki's and Kyo's play! Too bad I didn't bring a video camera." Momiji frowned at the older cousin and responded in an upset voice, "It's not nice to make fun of Tohru! She's always so nice to everyone!" Kyo had moved to the opposite side of the bed from her grandfather and had to agree with the bunny for once. It was just wrong to make fun of her when she did so much for everyone else. If Momiji had not said anything, he might have launched himself over the bed and pummeled that flippant snake.

Kyo ignored all the other occupants in the room and carefully reached out to touch her tiny hand that was peaking out from under the sheet. Her skin was terribly cold, and he noticed goose bumps breaking out over her arm. He realized that she must be cold in that skimpy paper gown and only covered by a sheet. A quick survey of the room revealed a thick, heavy white blanket folded neatly at the foot of the bed, so he turned to grasp it and pull it up to her chin. Without realizing he had an audience, he tucked it around her to maximize her warmth.

Behind him, Shigure leaned over his shoulder and teased, "Awww. Isn't Kyo being so sweet and caring! Come to think of it, you have been ultra-nice to Tohru since she's been sick. Is there something we should know?"

Kyo's face turned almost as red as his hair as he turned to scream a denial to his stupid cousin. Before he even got a word out, Hatori reminded him that they needed to keep the volume down. So, instead of yelling, he grasped Shigure's hand, and squeezed his fingers in such a grip that the dog visibly winced, and started sweating. Kyo hissed a threat that only Shigure could hear, "Don't. Make. Fun. Of. Me. Especially when it comes to Tohru. She's better than anyone in this family and we don't deserve her. If I can do anything to make her feel better I will. So shut up!"

Shigure stuttered, "I'm sorry. You go right ahead and do what you must. But could you please let go of my hand? I need that to make a living!" When Kyo released him, the dog sighed and backed away from his volatile cousin. Ayame gently grasped the injured hand and made a big fuss over soothingly caressing the paw. Hatori seemed to be the only one aware of the fact that the cat had just intimidated the dog of the Zodiac. Although, Kazuma was the only one to notice the self-control that Kyo exhibited for Tohru's sake by threatening Shigure quietly.

Tohru's eyes opened again and tried to focus on the room full of visitors. Momiji jumped up on the foot of the bed and piped up in his high pitched, cheerful voice, "Tohru! Tohru! It's time to wake up! You were going to teach me how to play chess! And it's no fun around here while you sleep!" This seemed to grasp her attention as her eyes cleared a bit more than they had the last time. Still, she couldn't seem to stay awake long enough to find where the happy voice came from.

Yuki turned to Hatori and asked what they were all thinking, "Hatori, is this normal for someone to have such trouble waking up from surgery?" His forehead was wrinkled in a worried frown under his silver bangs.

Hatori smiled gently at the sleepy Tohru and explained, "Yes, it's sometimes hard to awaken from anesthesia, especially someone as small as Tohru. Her body has to fight off the effects while it's still not at full health from the mono. It might take her a little while still."

Ayame piped up with excitement, "Well, since it might be a few minutes still, I'm going to run down to the gift shop and see if they have anything worthy to brighten our princess' room. I'm sure she would enjoy some lovely balloons and flowers, and maybe even a stuffed animal or two." With that announcement, Ayame lead a procession to the gift shop that included Rin, Hatsuharu, Kagura, Kazuma and Shigure, all of whom thought it was a splendid idea. The only ones remaining in Tohru's room were Yuki, Kyo, Momiji, Hatori and her grandfather.

With fewer people in the room, Yuki felt more comfortable to move up along side Kyo on Tohru's right side and watch the sweet girl sleep. Hatori moved up alongside Tohru's grandfather, and Momiji kept vigil at the foot of her bed like a faithful dog.

Hatori decided to try rousing her by calling, "Tohru? Do you think you can open your eyes for us?" To which she immediately responded by opening her eyes and announcing, "Hatori, you didn't have to come. I'm fine." Which made all the men smile, because that was her usual response when the Sohma doctor was called out when she was ill. Yuki jumped in on a typical conversation about the doctor and asked, "Tohru, do you know what you want to cook Hatori for his thank you supper?" The girl's unfocused eyes turned to the rat and she asked, "Are there any vegetables ready to be picked?" Yuki pretended to think about this, and tapped his chin with a long finger. He glanced conspiratorially out of the corner of his eyes at Kyo, to see if he could get him to play along.

Kyo was catching on to what they were doing, so he pretended to be his usual angry self, "Keh, just as long as you don't put any nasty leeks in whatever you are cooking. Leeks ruin any good meal!" Kyo felt elated when Tohru's eyes flashed over to him and she seemed to truly be seeing him. A small frown crossed her face for only a second before her smile broke free on her face. She exclaimed, "Of course I would never put leeks in your food Kyo. If Hatori wants leeks, I'll make you something special without them."

Momiji was so thrilled that she was finally responding in a more normal manner, that it was almost more than he could do to not jump up and down on the bed in excitement. He almost yelled, "Oh, Tohru! After dinner, you can teach me how to play chess! Right? You promised. Will you? Will you?" Tohru's eyes scanned down to meet the tear-filled happy eyes of her favorite bunny and she exclaimed, "Of course I will. You'll love chess. I'm sure you'll be better than me in no time."

After a few minutes of such idle chatter, Tohru suddenly became very still and quiet. Kyo leaned over her with concern and asked, "Tohru, are you okay? Are you in any pain?" She just looked at him and frowned. Then she looked around the room and noticed who was there. "Um, Kyo?" her voice was feeble and tentative. He reached out and grabbed her hand and stroked the skin on the back, being careful of the IV needle that was taped to the skin by her wrist. She looked back to him in confusion. "What happened? What are you guys doing here?"

Kyo looked up at Hatori across the bed and the doctor stepped into his professional persona and cleared his throat to get the girl's attention. When she was totally focused on Hatori, he began, "Tohru, you injured your spleen while Shigure was out of the house this morning. Remember I told you that this might be a complication of your illness?" He paused and waited for her to nod her head. "Well, you suffered a small tear in your spleen, and we had to rush you to the hospital where they operated to stop the bleeding."

As the explanation sank in, Tohru looked around at the men surrounding her. Then her eyes landed on the picture of her mother. A thankful smile broke out on her face at how thoughtful her surrogate family was to bring her prized picture. Yuki piped in, "You had us quite worried Miss Honda. Please don't do something like that again."

She had the presence of mind to look sheepish about making him worry, so Kyo leapt to her defense. "Hey, don't make her feel guilty for something that she had no control over. You know she wouldn't purposely do anything to make us worry." His cheeks were turning red with his controlled anger at the accusation that the rat had offhandedly tossed at her.

Just before the true fist fight could break out, Ayame's laughter announced their spectacular return to the room and to most of the floor. Slowly, the troupe of gift getters marched into the room and covered every surface with presents. She watched in awe as they presented her with something that represented every member of the Zodiak. There were stuffed animals in the shape of a cat, dog, mouse, bunny and sheep. There were figurines of a tiger and horse. There was a mechanical monkey with cymbals. There was a candle in the shape of a purple dragon, because there were no seahorses to be found. There was a pack of sour gummy worms which supposedly was as close to a snake as they could find. And lastly there was a peppermint pig with a hammer, and a bank in the shape of a cow. There were also several balloons with get well messages and some flowers for color. Apparently, no one thought to get a rooster item because Kureno was hardly ever seen, and no one knew him enough to like or dislike him. So, he was mostly forgotten.

The noise level in the room escalated with the introduction of the others, and the renewed excitement of seeing Tohru awake. It sounded like a family reunion and Tohru was elated to participate in the happiness. Her grandfather smiled a knowing little smile as he looked over the room full of people that loved his little grand-daughter, especially the surly one with the red hair. He had watched the distress on that one's face the whole time they waited for any news, and seen the joy when she finally awoke to recognize him.

Gently, the old man leaned over to whisper in her ear that it was time for him to return home. "Your Aunt will be coming to retrieve me, and I need to be waiting or she might leave me here." He chuckled at his ill-mannered daughter. Tohru smiled lovingly at him and thanked him for coming. He brushed it off and reminded, "You are my favorite grand-daughter. I will always be here for you, for as long as I draw breath. I'll come again tomorrow when there is less of a crowd." And kissed her on the forehead and smiled so big his eyes squinted closed. He thought that she was a very lucky girl to have so many who cared so much about her.

After her grandfather left, Momiji carefully, so as not to cause her pain, crawled up the side of her bed to lie down beside her on the side where her grandfather had just been. He was careful not to hug her so he wouldn't transform, but he did wrap himself around her arm like a sleeve. Tears started to form in his lovely eyes as he looked upon his best friend. If he could, he would have hugged the stuffing out of her, he was so relieved that she was alright. He didn't say a word, simply curled up there staring at the side of her face. What would have happened if they hadn't gotten there in time? Life would be so bland and tasteless without Tohru there making everyone do things they would not normally do. Who would he have to share his hair-brained schemes with? Who would eagerly accompany him on his adventures? Who would he have to share dreams with?

As the group settled down a bit, chairs were pulled up and Hatori sat on the end of the bed that Momiji had abandoned. Kazuma announced that he had to leave because it was getting late, and he had classed the next day. Rin, Kagura and Hatsuharu accompanied him, all calling out wishes for her speedy recovery as they exited.

So, as the room emptied, Tohru looked around again, at the presents and flowers. Kyo and Yuki were seated to her left, with Kyo closest to her head, still holding her hand. Ayame and Shigure were seated to her right, with Hatori sitting on the end of her bed, and Momiji contentedly wrapped around her right arm. She glanced at the face of her happy friend and saw a small grin on his face as if he were secretly thrilled to just be able to touch her. His eyes were closed, but she knew he was still awake and listening to everything.

Hatori finally cleared his throat and asked the question that had been on everyone's minds. "Tohru, I don't want to upset you. But could you tell us what happened while we were gone? When you called Shigure's phone, you were incoherent and all we could get out of you was that Akito had been there."

The tension in the room escalated as she closed her eyes to collect her thoughts. She could even feel Momiji squeeze her arm just a bit tighter to convey his support and concern. Her mind still felt a bit fuzzy, so she was having a hard time putting the events in order.

Momiji's thoughts were a mess. He remembered the injury she sustained at the beach house when she was protecting him from Akito. Now she was hurt again. He didn't know what to do. He didn't think there was anything he could do. All he knew was that he really wanted Tohru to get better. In an almost dream-like state, his mind kept echoing, "I want Tohru to get better."

Everyone was focused on Tohru's face, waiting for her response, except for Ayame. He turned his eyes to his little cousin on the bed and noticed a strange occurrence. A faint glow of yellow seemed to be emitting from the boy, making Tohru's arm glow faintly in response. Ayame reached up and grasped Hatori's sleeve. When the dragon was looking over at him, the snake pointed to the glow and asked, "Am I the only one seeing this?"

Everyone followed the direction that Ayame indicated and several gasps were heard as they noticed what he was talking about. Kyo's grip on Tohru's hand increased as he suddenly felt a strange tingle run through her fingers. He turned his confused eyes to the doctor and whispered, "What's the runt doing? He's not hurting her is he?"

Tohru's eyes snapped open at hearing the comment and they all noticed that there was no confusion or tiredness clouding her eyes as there had been earlier. She gasped as she turned to look at the calm face that was glowing ever so lightly right next to hers. Her voice held a bit of awe in it as she exclaimed, "I don't know, but I feel so much better than I did a minute ago." She glanced up to Hatori and the older Sohmas and pondered, "Do you suppose this is some power that he has? Something like healing?"

Kyo and Yuki were terribly confused since this was the first they had heard of anyone having powers other than Hatori's power to erase memories. Kyo stuttered, "Wait. What? Who has powers?"

Shigure took charge and explained, "We'll talk about that later. Right now I want to know what Akito did." They all seemed in agreement to that thought, so Tohru explained. "I fell asleep after Shigure left, and when I woke up, Akito was sitting right there on the table next to me. He was angry that I was taking his Zodiac away from him. Then he told me I needed to learn my place or something bad might happen to one of you. He said you didn't need me, but you needed him and that he could have Hatori erase my memory and Shigure kick me out if he wanted to." She swallowed hard, trying not to cry as she remembered those evil, hateful words that snaked around her heart like a sickness. "Then when he was leaving, he flipped the kotatsu over on me. It landed across my middle, and I couldn't get it to move by just pushing on it. So, I had to use all my strength to get it to flip back over. I think that's what hurt. Then I called you guys after the pain got too great." She quieted as a single tear trickled down her cheek. "I don't really remember too much after that."

Hatori sighed. It was about what they had imagined Akito would do, except not quite as violent as he usually was. For some reason, the head of the family liked to attack a person's eyes and face. He seemed to have gone easy on Tohru. He leaned over slightly and wiped the tear off her face, and patted her on the shoulder. "Thank you for telling us. We probably need to leave now, and let you get some rest. Although, I'm not really sure what Momiji is doing, it seems to have helped you a bit."

Shigure and Ayame stood and moved to untangle the little bunny from her arm, although, come to think about it, he wasn't so little anymore. He was easily as tall as Tohru, though not as muscular as the other boys. Shigure calmly asked her, "Do you want someone to stay the night with you? To keep you company?"

As expected, she started denying the need to inconvenience anyone. So, before she got too far into her little speech, Kyo piped up to cut her off. "Well, I don't care what you say, I'm staying. I don't want you here alone if that Akito decided on a repeat performance. Besides, it's no inconvenience for me to sleep on the floor, or in a chair. I'm not used to comforts and am more at home on the roof. Besides, no one will care if I miss a day of school tomorrow. I don't have a position where the class relies on me to represent them like some people we know…" Kyo noticed Yuki getting ready to object until he got to the last part. Kyo had to get some benefit out of living with master manipulator Shigure. In his head he was grinning like a fool, or Cheshire cat, though he didn't really like cat analogies. 'Take that ya damn rat!'

Calling to Momiji didn't do a thing to wake the boy, so Shigure simply lifted him up off the bed while Ayame removed Tohru's arm from his grasp. Once contact was broken, the faint glow vanished, and the boy's tired eyes squinted open. He mumbled, "I want Tohru to get better." Then he snuggled into the shoulder of his older cousin and drifted back off to sleep.

Shigure called back over his shoulder as he was leaving, "We'll pull the car around and wait for you by the in-patient entrance Tori-san. Sleep tight Tohru, I'll see you in the morning." And Ayame bid them all farewell, after hugging and embarrassing Yuki, as usual, then was gone in a flourish. Hatori only shook his head and mumbled, "Those two will be the death of me."

Yuki and Kyo waited in the hallway while Hatori did his usual evening examination of his patient before bidding her a good nights rest. Yuki returned momentarily to reassure her that he would get her assignments tomorrow and come over as soon as he could to help her. Then he was gone too.

All that remained was Kyo, and he huffed, "Finally, the welcoming committee has left the building. I thought they'd never leave. How can you stand being around so many talking people?" He looked at her from the corner of his eyes and watched the blush stain her pretty face.

"Oh, I don't know. I guess I really like people. But you're right. Sometimes it's nice to just be quiet." A few moments passed until she almost whispered, "Thanks for staying with me. You didn't have to do that. I feel bad that you're going to be uncomfortable."

Kyo snickered, "Like I said. It's nothing unusual for me. I've slept in worse places. Besides, if you really feel that guilty, you could scoot over and share." Though he didn't really expect her to agree. He expected her to stutter and let the subject drop. Instead she started trying to slide her body to the side of her bed. He shouted, "No. Don't do that. You'll pull your stitches. I was just kidding. I couldn't share a bed with you." Her face fell as she interpreted that to mean he didn't want to be near her, so he added, "No, I might accidentally transform. How would we explain you having a cat in your hospital room?"

So, to break the tension, he huffed around the room, looking for extra blankets and pillows that were usually stored in the wardrobe. He settled himself in a deep chair with his legs propped up on a second chair and tossed the blanket over his legs. When he was totally settled, he looked back at Tohru and asked, "Um, are you warm enough? I noticed you were a little cold earlier. I could get you an extra blanket."

She smiled as her eyes closed in fatigue. "Nah, I'm fine. But thank you for offering. And thank you for staying with me tonight. It really means a lot to me." Her voice slurred with sleep she added, "Good night, Kyo."

He knew she was asleep, but he still responded, "Good night, Tohru. I'm really glad you're okay." Then he turned over onto his side and pulled the blanket up over his head. He knew it was going to be a long, uncomfortable night, with nurses barging in and out. But knowing she was safe, he felt it was worth any discomfort and annoyance, and snuggled down to get as much sleep as he could.

OoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooO

AN: yes, I'm back. I hope none of you died from waiting so long for the update. I told you I wouldn't abandon my stories. They are just too much fun.

So, review if you want to...


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